


Horrible: The Life and Times of Madame Morrible

by Old deeplyshallow (deeplyshallow)



Category: Wicked - All Media Types, Wicked - Schwartz/Holzman
Genre: Gen, Winner of 1st Place 2010 Greg Award for Best Angst and 2nd place for Best Overall, and damn it I'm still mildly proud of it, but it was my big wicked piece a wrote a decade ago, like i think you get what this is from the title and the description
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 46,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28217721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deeplyshallow/pseuds/Old%20deeplyshallow
Summary: So much happened before Elphaba flew in...
Relationships: and then some OC/OC stuff, and there's a hint of Morrible/OC, but romantic relationships are not the focus, like there's one Fiyeraba scene
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue: A Cell in Southstairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally published on fanfiction.net: 22/11/09 to 26/09/10

Are people born horrible or do they have horribleness thrust upon them? Can someone point to a baby and say this one will ruin so many lives, cause the death of many Animals and humans alike, one day she will stop at nothing to gain power?

No, once I was as innocent as the girl who dreamed of somewhere over the rainbow and as hopeful as my green student who declared her future was unlimited. The same green woman who a few years later decreed that she would do no good deed again, whose downfall was just as sudden as mine, although she was infinitely more noble.

But what of the girl who struggled for acceptance? Who was tired of being invisible? Who had no handsome prince to save her? What turned the girl who just wanted to be loved into one who would do anything for power?

Now mouldering away in my cell, I have no doubt I deserve this, but there is a story behind every villain and, though there is no one who would bother to hear it, I have a story too, one just as tragic of the Witch of the West's.

Because no one is born horrible. Not even me.


	2. The Birth of a School Ma'am

**Part 1**

_Year 1243 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

The rain poured down and the wind howled on the Gillikin farmhouse that night, and the three girls, who would have normally been told to go to bed by their mother hours beforehand, were anxiously gathered around her bedroom door. All three were fidgeting with excitement – desperately awaiting any news.

"How much longer do you think it'll take Ket?"

"I don't know Rina," Ketzal replied for the hundredth time.

"Well this is getting boring," Starina scowled, "can't we tell Mama to hurry up?"

"No, Mama said she'd call us when she's ready," Ketzal shot back and turned to the toddler fighting to get out of her lap, "Do you want a baby brother or sister Notta?"

"Sister, sister!" crowed the little girl.

"Mama wants a boy," said Starina matter-of-factly, "I mean why would she want more girls?" she flicked her carefully ringleted blonde hair to make it clear she meant 'why would she need another girl when she has a beautiful daughter like me?'

Ketzal scowled at her sister, she didn't think a six-year-old like her had any right bossing her about. Ketzal was nearly nine and had run all the way to the village herself today when Mama had told her to get a midwife, "Mama told me she would love the baby just as much if it was a boy or a girl."

"But she really wants a boy," confided Starina, "and so does Papa, he wants an heir to look after the farm. And I want a brother, I'm tired of sisters," she added as if that ended the matter.

Ket pursed her lips, "well I don't mind either way, anyway we'll know soon enough."

All three girls had dozed off, Ketzal practically leaning against the door, Notta in her lap and Starina still on the edge of her chair, when the midwife opened the bedroom door.

"Girls you've got a brand new bouncing baby sister!" she announced.

At once alert – in a way only children can be – the three girls raced inside the bedroom. There their mother was holding a tiny baby, wrapped in freshly washed towels, her little face was still wrinkled.

"Shhh, she's sleeping."

"She's beautiful," sighed Ketzal, holding Notta up to see. The two-year-old smiled and gently patted her new baby sister on the head.

"I wasn't that ugly as a baby," Starina informed them.

Ketzal scowled, "you were, I remember."

"Was not."

"Were too."

"Would someone like to get your father?" Interrupted the midwife – somewhat louder than necessary.

"I will," said Starina and dashed out of the room.

"What do you want to call her Mama?" asked Ketzal as soon as she had left

The woman on the bed smiled weakly, "I was thinking Delva. Do you like that?"

"It's lovely Mama," Ket replied happily. She turned to her sister, "do you like it Notta?" The little girl nodded enthusiastically.

"Well that's settled," said the midwife, "welcome to the world Delva Morrible."

The door swung open and Starina led a man into the room, his clothes still dripping wet as he moved towards the bed.

"Congratulotions Mr Morrible, you have a baby daughter!" Beamed the midwife.

The man's face instantly turned into a scowl, "another one?" he said, the smell of alcohol on his breath, "Lurline you're useless woman!"

"Told you so," Starina said to her sister in a carrying whisper, as he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him with a loud bang.

The baby, startled by the noise, woke up and started screaming. Both women quickly turned to her and unsuccessfully tried to quieten her.

"Girls, you really should be getting to bed," called the mother over the wails.

"But Mama!" Protested Ketzal, "I want to help…"

"Ket, please, I'm relying on you to be the responsible one here, can you see you and your sisters off to bed?"

Ketzal nodded, her pride swelling at her mothers trust in her, "Ok Mama. Come on Rina, Notta."

The story of my birth as told to me – ever so kindly – by my sisters. My first night in Oz was spent with my screams filling the farmhouse while the wind and rain raged around us.


	3. Starting Life’s Journey

_Year 1246 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

I cannot remember my mother. She died when I was two after giving birth to my brother, Ianu. Father didn't care, at eleven Ketzal was perfectly capable of doing the cooking and cleaning around the farm, and he finally had his precious son and heir. I used to try and imagine Mother from my sister's descriptions. I always pictured her as a kind of mix between Ketzal and Notta – and the polar opposite of Starina of course – only good things came from Mama.

My first memory is from when I was about three. My sisters and I were going on a walk in the land near our farm – I can't remember why – perhaps father wanted us scruffy girls out of the house while he once again showed off Ianu to the locals or maybe we had simply finished our chores and wanted to go on an adventure.

Whatever the case, our walk took the typical format – Starina striding on ahead, Notta stopping every few moments to admire some pretty thing or other that she had spotted, me running behind – little legs working overtime to catch up with her and get her to show me whatever she had found – and Ketzal attempting to get us to stay all together.

"Del look!" my sister called as I rushed up to her, "a ladybird!"

I smiled at the small creature in her hand, "It's so pretty."

"It's got three spots," Notta informed me, she was due to start school in Autumn so Ket had started teaching her the numbers, "that means it's three years old."

"Wow!" I said in awe, "that's a very old ladybird. It's as old as me!"

"Not as old as me though," Notta told me with pride, "I'm five so I'm a whole two years older than it, and it's not nearly as old as Papa!" We both broke off into giggles – Papa was ancient – he even had a big bald patch on his head!

"Ket," I called, "how old is Papa?"

"Thirty-five I think," she replied, "and come on you two – you're ages behind.

Notta and I looked at each other and laughed even harder, "thirty-five?" spluttered Notta between chuckles, "a ladybird his age wouldn't have any red left at all!"

"Hurry up titchies – or I'll squash your ladybird," came Starina from up ahead, a long stick in her hand that she was using to 'hike' up to the top of a hill that she was already halfway up. Still both laughing, Notta put the ladybird carefully back on the grassed and grabbed my hand as we raced to catch up.

By the time Notta and I had reached the top of the hill Starina and Ketzal were sitting there waiting for us – making daisy chains.

Starina looked up as we arrived, "about time."

"Oh don't worry Rina," said Ketzal happily, "we don't need to go anywhere fast and look," she wound the daisy chains around Starina's highly prised golden hair, "now you're as pretty as the Ozma."

Starina smiled, eyes gleaming, "One day I'm going to _be_ the Ozma."

"Don't be ridiculous Rina, you can't be the Ozma unless you were born an heir," said Ketzal quickly.

"Well then I'll just dress up as her – so everyone will think I am her and listen to me," protested Starina stubbornly.

"No you can't Rina," said Ketzal firmly.

Starina pulled a face, "fine – I'll marry her brother and become the Ozma's favourite sister."

"Can I be the Ozma's sister too?" I asked, not wanting to be left out.

"You? No, _I'm_ the one marrying the…"

"I'm never going to marry," declared Notta, "because if you marry you have to _kiss_ someone – and in _public_ too – and kissing's so _embarrassing_."

Ketzal bit her lip to stop her laughter.

The view was beautiful from where we were sitting. To the North we could see the town – half a mile away, and in all other directions we could see the big house – owned by some nobleman – who never seemed to bother to stay there and the farms – ours of course – and the ones neighbouring them; the Sheep's farm, the one where Gieffe – a boy a year or two older than Ketzal who used to play with us sometimes – and his siblings lived, the couple who had the most beautiful ponies – that we would frequently beg to ride – lived in another, and several other farms all sporting the bright colours of the summer wildflowers were visible in the distance.

We stayed there for a few minutes but the two children below the age of six were not prone to sitting down for long.

"Hey Del, I'll race you down the hill!"

"Notta, I'm not sure that's a good idea…" started Ketzal, but we had already both gotten up and were halfway down, she sighed, "ok, just come back up afterwards."

The next thing she heard was my screams.

Instantly Ket was up and had arrived beside me, "what happened Del?"

"She tripped up," Notta told her, "she'll be ok won't she?"

Ketzal picked me up and looked over me, "You'll be fine Del, you've just grazed your knees – be more careful next time. Come on, I'll carry you, we should be getting home anyway."

"And you want to be the Ozma's sister?" said Starina as she caught up with us taking in my bloody knees, filthy dress and red tear-stained face, "Someone like you would be too pathetic to be anyone even vaguely important."

Oh how wrong she was.


	4. You've Got to Be Carefully Taught

_Year 1247 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

After Notta started school the days when she was gone became increasingly boring for me. No longer did I have someone to play with, who would always be willing to do something fun with me – whatever it was, it was always fun with Notta around.

I had tried to hang round with Ketzal, she'd given up school the previous year to help Papa around the farm, but after several weeks of me following her like a shadow, and managing to make her spill the pig feed she was carrying all over her dress in a desperate attempt to get her attention, she'd snapped, "Del, please, cut it out! Can't you find something to do with yourself?"

So I'd taken to walking around the nearby farmlands – but it wasn't much of an adventure without my sisters. I tried searching the ground for pretty objects but I never seemed able to find the ladybirds and pretty pink leaves that Notta found in handfuls.

It was one of those days; I wandered, once again, around the outskirts of the farm kicking stones, wondering what to do with myself…

"Hey!" A Lamb from the farm next-door bounded up to me, "what are you doing?"

"Nothing," I replied in a monotone.

"Well, do you want to play with me? I've got a brand new red ball and no one to play catch with me."

I gazed at the shiny ball in wonder, "ok," I said and climbed over the fence.

"My name's Ewetta," she said, bouncing the ball into my arms, "I'm nearly five."

I looked at her with amazement – I hadn't known that there were any other children around my age here, Gieffe was older than Ketzal and his twin sisters were even older than that! And the couple with the ponies had just had a baby, which they wouldn't let out of their site, never mind let us dress her up. We'd never had much to do with the family of Sheep, so I had no idea they had children, never mind one my age with a big red ball!

"I'm Delva," I told her "I'm four and a half."

Ewetta bleated happily, "Delva's a pretty name," she told me as I threw the ball back to her.

The day was spent in bliss, not only did Ewetta have a bouncy red ball, but she also had a long skipping rope and knew all kinds of skipping rhymes. I only went home that day when Ewetta's mother called her in for dinner.

My sisters were back by the time I arrived home and dinner was nearly on the table.

"Wow Del, you're late," Ket smiled at me, "Did you find something to do then?"

I grinned, "Yeah Ket! I made a friend, here name's Ewetta and she's nearly five and she has a shiny red bouncy ball and a long skipping rope – which she's really good at – and she's teaching me how to back skip…"

Ketzal laughed, "I'm glad you had a good time little one."

I scowled, "I'm not little."

Her smile only widened, "so where does this Ewetta live?"

"Oh, on the Sheep's farm," I told her.

Ketzal was silent for a moment, "Del, I'm not sure it would be wise for you to see her again."

My face fell, "Why? She's my friend!"

Ket took a moment to think then bit her lip, "Ok, you can if you want, just don't tell Papa about her."

I nodded – I hadn't really been planned to anyway – but now she mentioned it I had to ask, "Why?"

"I just don't think it would be wise, Papa doesn't… get on very well with the Sheep."

Ketzal's warning didn't mean much to me at the time – oh I didn't tell Papa about Ewetta – but I didn't really think about why he wouldn't like her to be my friend. It was just one of the things that made Papa strange, like that fact he liked Ianu when all he did was scream and wail all day, or the fact that he liked to drink beer yet wouldn't let any of us touch a drop of it.

So I continued playing with Ewetta, I showed her my dolls – mostly inherited from Ketzal and she showed me her little family of cuddly sheep. We went on walks and watched the fishes in the river. She picked daises from the meadow and I made them into daisy chains (she found them too fiddly to make with her hooves) and we round them around each other's fur and hair and pretended to be Ozmas – or Ozmas' sisters.

A few happy months later I brought her round to one of our barns to show her some kittens that one of our cats had just given birth to.

"Delva!" I turned round at father's shout.

"Yes Papa?"

"What are you doing with that Sheep?"

I smiled, completely forgetting Ketzal's words, "oh, this is Ewetta, she's my best friend."

Father took three menacing steps towards us, "Get out of my farm," he roared at the Lamb, "I never want to see you trespassing on my land again."

"b-but Sir, Del said…" the brave Lamb stammered.

"I don't care what my stupid daughter said," shouted Papa, "get your filthy Animal behind OUT!"

Ewetta galloped back to her farm without another word.

Then father turned to me, grabbed my arm and dragged me into the farmhouse.

"What do you think you were doing Delva?"

"I was playing with her Papa."

He slapped me across the face, "Don't you ever even talk to that Sheep, Lurline don't ever talk to an Animal again if you can't help it. Do you hear me?"

The tears ran uncontrollably down my face as I nodded, "but why?"

"Because Delva," father explained, tone still full of menace – but less directed at me, "the Animals are the most foul living things in existence, if it wasn't for the previous Ozma's traitorous Animal advisers maybe Oz wouldn't be in the state it is now. Poor and ruined, far from the great empire it once was!"

"I didn't know that Papa," I said, horrified that my best friend could have been involved in destroying the great Oz that Papa was always talking about.

"Well don't let me see you anywhere near those filthy things again Delva, or I'll give you more than that little slap."

The rest of the day was spent on my bed, crying, and not just from Papa's slap (which hurt a lot).

Ketzal saw my damp eyes when she came back from collecting some mushrooms for dinner, "what's the matter Del?"

"Papa says I can't play with Ewetta anymore," I sobbed.

Ketzal sighed and put her arms around me, "perhaps it's for the best; anyway it won't be that long until you go to school now – and just think – a lovely girl like you will make lots of new friends."

That didn't make me feel any better.

I didn't speak to Ewetta again, although she tried to speak to me, I feared Papa's reprimand too much. Also I mistrusted her, now Papa had said so many horrible things about her kind. Papa was a grown up and knew a lot of things I didn't, so if he said the Animals were bad he was right. Wasn't he?


	5. School Days

_Year 1248 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

"There you are Delva," said Ketzal, tying green ribbons around my mouse brown hair, which she had put into plats, to match my dress, "you look smart enough for your fist day at school now. Notta you will make sure you show her to the right classroom won't you?"

Notta nodded eagerly, "Yeah, yeah, Ket. Ooooh Del, you'll have Mrs Meters she was my old teacher – she gives you sweets if you know how to add your numbers!"

"I know how to count to twenty," I told her proudly, I turned to Ket nervously, "will that be enough?"

She laughed, "It will be for now Del, but soon you'll be able to count to one hundred!"

"One hundred," I said in wonder, "is that as old as Papa?"

Ketzal shook her head, smiling, "no, Papa's not that old, you have to be very old to be one hundred."

"That's nothing," said Starina, " _I_ can count to one thousand! That's really, really, really old."

"It is," agreed Ketzal, "no one is one thousand years old."

"Except Lurline," piped up Notta.

"Well Lurline has lived since before the dawn of time," Ketzal told her, "she's much older than one thousand."

" _And_ I know my times tables," Starina interupted, not liking being left out, "all the way up to ten times ten."

"Is it hard?" I asked her.

"Very," Starina told me, "loads of people in my class can't do them – I doubt you'll ever be able to."

"I'm sure you'll be able to do them in time," said Ketzal glairing at Rina, "but for now you'll be focusing on addition and subtraction." She looked at the clock, "come on girls you'd better go."

Notta grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door, Rina rolled her eyes and followed us.

I liked the school building as soon as I saw it – a red bricked building with high windows and a small field around it littered with balls, skipping ropes and a hopscotch painted on the ground – although it seemed a little small. Notta pulled me inside and showed me to my classroom.

The room was small but colourful – on one wall were the letters of the alphabet – Ketzal had taught me their names and some of their sounds – although I still could not make sense of the few books we had around the house, on another were the numbers up to ten and on a third were the colours of the rainbow. Children were scattered around the room, a group of Animals, including Ewetta, were in one corner – I edged away from them – the rest of the pupils were human and were scattered around in small groups – all of single genders. A woman with long auburn hair was sitting on a large chair on one side of the room, Notta ran up to her.

"Mrs Meters!"

She smiled kindly at my sister, "Hello Notta, I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Notta pushed me from where I was standing nervously behind her and showed her to the teacher, "This is my little sister Delva, she's in your class!"

Mrs Meters smiled at me, "ahh, Delva, I see you on my list – well welcome to school – I hope you enjoy your first day, you can play with the other children now – and I'll call you all to sit down in a few moments," I nodded shyly but stayed next to Notta, Mrs Meters turned to her, "Well Notta, you've been a very good big sister," she told her, "but shouldn't you be getting back to class though?"

"Can I have a sweet?" Notta asked instantly, smiling sweetly, "pleeeeease?"

Mrs Meters laughed, "Ok, just because you're a very responsible girl, you can have one too if you want Delva," we eagerly grabbed a sweet, before Notta rushed off giving me a peck on the cheek.

I enjoyed school; it instilled a love of learning in me that has never gone away – even when so much of the rest of Delva had. I did well in classes; I tended to tail Notta at lunchtimes – much to the annoyance of her friends – but I got on well enough with the other children, some children would tease me (I was hardly the prettiest of girls) but Notta sorted them out soon enough.

I avoided the Animals though, I will never really know if even then Oz had a prejudice against them or it was just our little rural farming village, but they would stick around in their own little group and the humans in ours. Ewetta and I were blatantly ignoring each other by now and – although my pride would never let me admit it – I missed her sometimes, never again did I have a friend as good as her – except Notta of course.

Little by little – although a lot faster than many of my classmates – I learnt my numbers up to 1000, was taught how to read and write and got sweets from Mrs Meters. For once I found a place where I thrived.


	6. Gillikin Pride

_Year 1249 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

Normally sweeping the floor was a chore I hated, but I knew it had been worthwhile today, it had been the most exciting thing my sisters and I had seen for a long time. Of course Ketzal was furious and totally humiliated, but still…

I had been playing idly with one of the rag dolls mother had made and Ketzal had passed onto me when she had grown out of it. For once Starina was putting up with me; she was on the other side of the room posing in front of the mirror in the new silk robes papa had given her. Papa had come home from the annual market in South Gillikin in an usually good mood that morning with presents for us all. He'd given me these beautiful velvet slippers – they were slightly small for me but I loved them anyway – I could never remember Papa giving me anything much, never mind anything so pretty!

I was admiring them once again when Notta dashed into the room, "Del, Del, Rina, Del! You'll never guess what I just saw! Ketzal and Gieffe were _kissing_ ," she leaned closer and whispered conspicuously, "on the lips!"

We were both up in an instant, "really?" I gasped.

"Oh for Lurline's sake," Starina scoffed, "you two are so childish," and then, unable to resist, added, "where?"

Notta grinned, "I'll show you!" speeding out of the house and towards the barns as we followed eagerly.

It was the funniest and most disgustifying thing we had ever seen, Gieffe – a boy from one of the neighbouring farms - was pinning Ketzal against the barn wall, his mouth covering hers, her eyes shut and her hands in his hair. We burst into giggles. Ketzal's eyes snapped open. For a second she stared at us in shock before she glared at us and pushed Gieffe off her, her face turning bright red.

"Ewwww, Ket," Starina said, although she sounded slightly jealous, "were you _snogging_?"

"No," Gieffe mumbled, turning as red as Ket, "I was just saying hello."

"Hello," Notta sniggered, I giggled with her.

"Oh don't you two start too," sighed Ketzal, hurriedly attempting to straighten out her dress and tidy her hair, "I think you all need to do some chores: Rina – you clean out this barn, Notta – the chicken house, Del – sweep the kitchen floor."

"That's not fair," I protested.

"Life isn't fair," she snapped, "live with it." She turned to Gieffe, "Gie, you'd better go, I'll see you later – maybe at your house next time."

He grinned at her nervously, "Ok, see ya Ketty," and hurried off.

"Ketty?" asked Rina incredulously, "he's given you a nickname already?"

If it was possible Ket's face turned even more scarlet, "Actually I've decided you should clean both barns Rina."

Starina glared at her but stomped off to the barns, Notta and I headed towards the house – beside it was where the chickens were kept. As soon as Ketzal was out of sight we both started laughing again – _that_ had been worth any punishment.

So that left me sweeping, it was boring, yet seemed somewhat more interesting now I had my beautiful shoes and the image of an embarrassed Ketzal in my head.

The sound of the door violently swinging against its hinges announced the entrance of my father; he sat down on the chair, Ianu in his lap, his smile betraying his good mood.

"I've missed you son," he told Ianu, "but I have not had a trade so successful in years, reminds me of the good old days when the current Ozma's grandmother was ruling the throne, makes me wish I lived when Oz was prosperous – when it was at the centre of the world."

"What was that like Papa?" I asked taking advantage of his good mood, Papa often talked about Oz in its glory days, but I had never had the courage to ask him what he meant before.

Papa smiled at me – already happy my heart soared – and motioned for me to draw up a chair to listen to him, "Oh, I wish I had seen it Delva, when your great grandfather lived on this farm – Oz was the most powerful country in the world. There were no such places as Ix or Quox, they were parts of Oz's great lands, every citizen in Oz was rich and proud of it."

"But what happened Papa?" I asked, even as a six year old I could see that Oz was hardly wonderful, whenever we went to town there were beggars in the street, Ket would always patch up our dresses rather than get a new one and there were days – especially in winter – where all we had to eat was a thin broth.

"It was the later Ozma's – the current one's mother in particular," papa growled, "a foolish girl who did not know how to rule a country – got Oz into all sorts of problems. The South revolted – so she gave them Ev, the North revolted so she gave them Quox and then she let all these countries drain Oz of money and trade and didn't even get rid of those damn Animals that kept moving closer to the cities, no, she even took some of them as her advisers (and what traitorous advice they gave her)! That Ozma didn't have the right to call herself a ruler."

"Will Oz ever be great again Papa?" I asked.

"How should I know," he scowled, "it's not up to us is it? We need a powerful ruler – not a silly girl like those Ozmas – honestly, I don't know why Lurline put her daughter in charge of the throne – a nice sensible son with a good taste for battle would have been much more suitable." He sighed, "that's what we need a good ruler – little Ianu here could do it – some brave strong man that would make me – and all of Oz proud."

"I could do it Papa," I told him, "I would make you proud…

He looked at me incredulously, "You? You wouldn't make me proud, you're a girl, the best thing that could happen to you is to get yourself in a good marriage and even then that's a long shot with looks like that. Don't be silly girl – get on with the sweeping."

I sighed and pushed myself off the chair as he glared at me. Once I was back on the floor he turned to Ianu and his face softened, his expression was filled with pride – the love I never got.

 _Someday,_ I vowed, _I'll make Oz great again. Someday Papa, I'll make you proud._


	7. Marriage Problems

_Year 1251 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

Clearly Ketzal and Gieffe were doing more than just saying hello with a significant use of their tongues. Not long after Ket's seventeenth birthday she came running into the farmhouse.

"Papa, Papa, Gieffe asked me to marry him! Can I Papa? Can I?"

Starina sniggered from the corner, Ketzal shot her a look – clearly warning her against saying anything – Starina had taken to flirting with the local boys, something that Papa would not have approved of if Ket had notified him.

"This Gieffe," father asked, "where does he live?"

"He's one of the Clusslers Papa," Ketzal told him quickly, "he's their only son, he's going to inherit their farm – and all their land."

"The Clussler's farm?" said Papa thoughtfully, then his face broke into a wide smile, "well done my girl, he's a good catch – although you're quite a pretty little thing – are you sure you wouldn't want to try and get the attention of some of those wealthy merchants that visit from time to time?"

Ketzal shook his head, "No, I love him Papa."

He nodded – still obviously pleased with his future son in law, "Ok, you have my blessing Ketzal."

She threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek, "thank you so much Papa. I'll just go and tell him!" and she raced out the door before Notta and I could even ask to be bridesmaids, although not before Rina had wolf whistled.

* * *

The following weeks were full of work, but Ket was so happy that we barely noticed it, she let Notta and I be her bridesmaids and Starina her maid of honour and set about making us beautiful new dresses for the occasion.

At last the day arrived. I was awoken by Ketzal shaking Notta and me in the room we shared, "Come on Notta, Del, I need you to be perfect."

"But it's still dark, Ket," I complained.

She sighed, "Get up lazy, or I'll refuse to get up on your wedding day. Breakfast's on the table, then come into my room and put on your dress"

With a glare at my sister, I pulled myself out of the warm covers, and ate the roll Ket had left for me. When I got into Ketzal's room she pointed to the dress on her bed – it was not new but my best and had been carefully washed for the event, "If you crease it or stain it I'll kill you."

"Stressed or what?" asked Starina, carefully arranging her sister's hair.

"Quiet, you" she snapped back as Rina smirked.

Notta got into her dress and brushed her hair – helping me with the back of mine when I was done, "I'll do you're makeup too if you want."

I looked at her in amazement, "I get to wear makeup?" makeup was the kind of thing grownups wore – I'd never been allowed to wear it before.

"Of course," Ketzal replied from the other side of the room, "I want everything to be perfect today."

"Then why did you invite her?" asked Starina snidely.

At last everything was ready, we arrived with Ketzal by carriage at the local Lurlinest chapel as we awaited our cue to enter. Ketzal fidgeting nervously, quite unlike her usual self, yet she had never looked happier. When at last her cue came, she took father's hand and entered the chapel trembling as we trailed behind her.

Finally the ceremony was over, after an exchanging of vows, which seemed – to an eight year old – to go on for hours. The reception was held in the local dance hall, where Ketzal and Gieffe and the adults were dancing, within seconds Starina was asked to dance also. A few minutes later Notta was approached by a blushing boy she asked to dance with her – to my surprise she giggled and said yes.

That left me, standing by the buffet table, wondering if anyone would notice if I took yet another slice of cake and pointedly ignoring Ianu mucking about in the corner with some of the other boys from his school – even he was enjoying Ketzal's wedding and it made me feel even worse. I fidgeted with my dress wondering if I could magic the clock to speed up time.

"What you doing titch?" Starina approached me, surrounded by a group of her friends and a couple of boys.

"Nothing," I mumbled, trying to walk away from them.

Starina was having nothing of that. "Where you going?" she asked grabbing my arm as I tried to tug away from her. Her friends cackled at my actions.

"Nowhere," I muttered, and tried to get away again.

She smirked, "so if you're going no where stay here, why aren't you dancing."

Red tinted my cheeks, beforehand I hadn't really minded not being asked to dance – only that it meant I had no company, but now Starina was asking it seemed like a bad thing.

"I asked you a question," Rina persisted, looking round at her friends grinning.

"I didn't feel like it," I murmured, head down.

Starina caught my lie before it left my mouth, "awww, did no one ask lickle Delva to dance?" she crooned as her friends smirked.

I shook my head frantically, face reddening even further.

"Well who would want to dance with you? With a face like that? Why you look like…" she looked around the table next to us for some inspiration, "like a fish – who'd want to dance with you fish face?"

I looked around desperately for Notta, or even Ketzal, they were nowhere to be seen. "I don't look like a fish," I told her, staring at my feet. The sniggering increased.

"Sure you don't cod face. Honestly – I think you must have been switched at birth – I can't see how you could be related to _me,_ " she took the opportunity to flutter her eyelashes at the boys surrounding her.

Cries of "fish face!" filled my ears as my sister's friends circled around me. Alone in the middle, I tried and failed to hold back tears, "stop being mean to me," I spluttered.

"I'm not being mean – I'm just telling the truth," she pointed out, "I'm just making sure you don't get the delusion that you'd ever find someone willing to marry you."

I couldn't face it anymore, my spiteful sister, her friends' snickers, the fact I felt it was true – I ran away – pushing through my tormenters and out of the dancehall until I was alone, there I let my tears consume me.

No! I wouldn't let that happen again, if I wanted Papa to be proud of me, if I wanted to be brave and strong I couldn't cry like that just because Starina was being mean to me. I wouldn't be the victim no matter what the world wanted me to be.

I wiped the tears off my face and returned to the dancehall, no one told Delva Morrible what to do.


	8. The City of Marble

_Year 1253 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

I don't think I ever appreciated how much work Ketzal did around the farm until she left. After the wedding, Notta and I would have to wake up early to start chores before school and continue them afterwards – well into the late afternoon. To be fair Starina did her share too, but somehow she always managed to spend hours hanging around with her (still rather unpleasant) friends in town and the local boys – all of which she seemed to have dated at least several times.

It was on a day such as this, when Ketzal and I were picking the carrots for that night's dinner that we saw Rina running, quite undignified for the young lady she thought herself to be, down the path towards us. I had not seen such a big grin on her face in ages.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, Notta, mackerel, guess what," I had long since decided to ignore the fishy nicknames she threw at me – while my decision at Ketzal's wedding to not let her get to me had not entirely worked out (her words still hurt) I made sure she never saw me damaged by them or even worse the tears they sometimes caused.

"What?" asked Notta, rolling her eyes at me – Rina had a tendency to over exaggerate even the most trivial of matters at the moment – especially when it came to boys.

"Well, there's this boy – no young gentleman," (Notta gave me a what-did-I-tell-you? look,) "coming to stay in the big house! And he's a Bon Dalus." She paused for effect.

Notta and I looked at each other, wondering how we were supposed to react to a name neither of us had heard of.

"Bon Dalus?" I asked eventually.

"Yes, Bon Dalus!" Rina said exasperatedly, at our continued blank looks she added, "honestly don't you two know anything? They're only the most important, rich and powerful family in the Gillikin, even more so than the Uplands of the Upper Uplands, please tell me you've heard of them?"

"erm…"

Starina sighed melodramatically, then continued as if we had reacted appropriately, "well he's the eldest son of Lord Bon Dalus, eighteen – two years older than me – and they say he's incredibly handsome."

"How did I guess?" Notta muttered to me, I failed to hide my sniggers.

"Oh laugh all you like," said Rina haughtily, "Phearse – that's his name – and I are going to be a match made in heaven! With my incredible beauty and his handsomeness and power – he'll fall for me immediately. Mrs Starina Bon Dalus – no wait – _Lady_ Starina Bon Dalus," she said thoughtfully, "I like the sound of that."

"You do realise you haven't met the boy?" Notta pointed out.

"I haven't met him _yet_ ," Starina corrected her, tossing her hair, "but I'll change that soon enough." She turned away from us – now more talking to herself, "but I need more time – well I'll do the chores early and I don't need to go to school…"

"You're not going to school?" I asked shocked.

She turned and scowled at me, "Shut up fishy – I hardly go to school anyway – it's not like I'll need it in life, I have better things to do. Anyway Ket gave it up at twelve. Now how do my dresses look…?"

* * *

We didn't see Ketzal as much as we used to. After her marriage we were regular visitors to her house. However, when she gave birth to her first child, Gillam, she had less and less time to let us visit. I didn't like my nephew – he reminded me too much of Ianu – constantly stealing attention, this time Ketzal's – all the attention that she had once given to my sisters and I was now given to this squawking infant. I had responded by becoming even closer to Notta.

So it was a treat that day, a few months later, when the three of us walked the mile or so to Ketzal's house and she invited us in for lunch – her son, as always, on her hip.

"So how have my favourite sisters been getting on without me?"

"Oh it's been awful Ket," I told her, "Rina makes me sweep the stable on my own every week!"

Rina glared at me, "It's high time you did some proper work, you always insist you're a big girl – and I plan to leave this farm as soon as possible - it's time you did some big girl jobs too. She put on some of my make up the other day Ket, made a right mess of it too, didn't you cod face?"

Ketzal, obviously amused, fought to hide her smile, "So what's made you too busy to sweep the stables Rina?"

Rina smirked, although her cheeks reddened, "Stuff."

"Care to expand?"

"She's been chatting up the local boys," Notta piped up.

"Still?" asked Ket exasperated, "You've been doing that for years, surely you need to grow out of it."

The blush on Rina's cheeks increased by a couple of degrees as she answered indignantly, "not just anyone Ket! Phearse Bon Dalus, son of Lord Bon Dalus, he's very rich and oh so handsome and…" on seeing the expression on Ketzal's face added, "I'm not sure what you're problem is Ket – you hardly waited to get married."

"Rina, I've known Gieffe all my life, you've barely met this Bon Dally boy."

Rina scowled, "It's Bon Dalus and I wouldn't say barely met… anyway you're just jealous that he likes me and you're stuck with a peasant."

Ketzal glared at her, but Gilliam demanded attention before she could shoot an angry reply.

When lunch was finally served, Starina gobbled hers down in a most unladylike fashion, finishing far before the rest of us, Ketzal raised her eyebrows.

"She's been doing that a lot lately," Notta confided to Ket in a carrying whisper.

"Oh has she?" Ketzal asked turning to Rina.

"I wouldn't pay attention to everything the _little girl_ has to say," Rina sneered.

Ketzal just sighed, "Lurline help me if I ever get a daughter like you Rina."

"She also keeps throwing up," Notta told her spitefully, annoyed at the little girl remark, "She keeps pretending she isn't – but the bathroom stinks."

"Shut up Notta," muttered Rina, but it was too late.

If Notta was expecting Ketzal to tease Rina, or even mildly scold her she was sorely mistaken. Ketzal looked at Starina furious.

"WHAT?" she roared.

"I'm just ill, ok," said Starina indignantly, but even I see though her lie.

Ketzal grabbed Starina by the wrist, dragging her into the next room and locking the door behind her. Notta and I were reduced to attempting to watch the action through the keyhole, however, it was not hard to hear my sisters' shouts.

"Immature – idiotic – what were you thinking?"

"I think you should mind your own business Ket! It's all under control."

"Rina, you have no idea! Does he even know? What happens if it doesn't work out as well as you planned? You'll be ruined."

"I won't, he doesn't know yet but he will soon – but when I tell him it won't matter –it'll all work out! He loves me, and even if he doesn't – well it's honour isn't it – and I'll be a lady!"

"I don't think you are getting the seriousness of the situation! How are you going to prove to them that the child you are carrying is even his?"

At this point Notta giggled.

"What?" I asked, turning to her, I had not really understood what was happening.

"I think Rina's having a baby!"

"But she's not married," I said confused.

Notta just looked at me, at twelve she considered herself very mature, "exactly."

By the time we focused our attention on what Ketzal was saying again I could swear there were tears in her voice, "Rina, please be sensible, I'm going to tell Papa right now – he has a reasonable amount of respect here in the village – if anyone can get you out of this it's him, I might ask Gieffe if he has any idea what to do too, because… Oh Rina you are so stupid!"

The door we were leaning on was pulled open – making us both topple to the ground. A red faced Ketzal glared down at us, "You two! Shoo! I have enough on my plate dealing with your sister!" she shrieked, chasing us out of the house, before turning once again to Rina.

* * *

To be honest I do not know how Starina managed to walk off the path that was so likely to have led to her ruining, I believe it involved a lot of long discussions between my father and Lord Bon Dalus, a reasonable amount of black mail about broken honour and the dowry, of over half our farmland, might have helped. Whatever the case Starina got her wedding, whatever fancy title she'd been so caught up in getting and most importantly father was more proud of her than he even was of Ianu – as far as he was concerned our family was moving up in Oz's social ladder.

Starina's wedding was nothing like Ket's. For a start we weren't to have it in our simple little village church – we were having it in Ozma Town – the capital city of Oz. It was a few days carriage ride to the town and it caused all five of us great excitement – although Ket and Rina tried not to show it – as none of us have travelled more than a few miles from the village before.

Dressed in our best clothes – because it wouldn't do for the future in-laws to see us in anything less – we departed in a carriage of the type of luxury we had never even seen before. The first day of the trip was spent with Notta, Ianu and I gaping eagerly out the window amazed at every new site that was revealed to us, never had I imagined the world would be this big. Ketzal – Gillam on her lap, Gieffe and Rina rolled their eyes good naturedly at us – although making sure they had a clear view of the sights as well – while Papa had his nose in the newspaper – despite the fact he could barely read – in an attempt to make him look sophisticated should any of his relatives-to-be catch sight of him.

However, by a few hours after nightfall only the coach driver and I were awake, that was when I saw it. A tall, imposing, old building, lights still on in most windows, and ivy covering every wall. It was beautiful. I fell in love with it at once.

"What's that?" I asked the coach driver eagerly.

"That's Shiz University Miss," he replied.

University – I had occasionally heard people speak of such things, a wondrous place that some people went to after school to learn even more information, where you got to live there and never had to go home, where you did not have to wake up at the break of dawn and never had to do chores – I gazed at the wondrous place until it rolled out of sight.

* * *

I had never experienced such luxury as I had in the Hotel in Ozma Town. Despite the glares and nasty mutterings that I am sure must have gone on around us from the aristocracy, although I missed them being only a child, we were to be part of the family and for the stay could not room in anything less than a beautifully clean apartment with silken sheets and maids to serve our every need.

New dresses were of course needed for the wedding as well, and a couple of days before Starina's marriage Ketzal, Notta and I visited Ozma town's finest boutique to get our new dresses fitted. If Starina had thought the silken dress that Papa had brought her home from market so many years ago was beautiful – even she would have had to repeal her views immediately at the sight of these dresses, made of silk and carefully embroidered with lace I had never seen anything so spectacular and never in my wildest dreams thought I would be able to wear such a thing – surely with a robe like that the Ozma herself would have to bow down to me!

Notta and I were barely recognisable by the time our dresses had been fitted, Notta in a rich blue and I in an emerald green we looked at each other and giggled in excitement. After a few moments Ketzal, who was still getting fitted, grew tired of our constant noise and fidgeting she sighed and turned to the dress-maker.

"Can they go?"

The dress maker nodded.

"Ok, Notta, Delva, take your dresses off and you can go and explore the town make sure…"

She was cut off by a simultaneous groan from both of us, "do we _have_ to take our dresses off?" I asked in response to her bewildered look.

Ketzal sighed, "fine, keep them on, just please don't dirty them. Tell you what here's some money," she handed us a heavy bag of coins, "buy Rina a nice wedding present – you can spend the change – meet me back at the hotel at sunset."

Notta and I looked at each other, identical grins slowly spreading across our faces, she grabbed my hand and we raced through the beautiful white marble streets of Oz's capital city in our beautiful new dresses marvelling at every wondrous stall, buying anything that caught our fancy until the bag became remarkably light. Our present to Rina was not that extravagant.

* * *

We were not bridesmaids at Rina's wedding, some young cousins of Phearse were instead made up to carry my sister's train. Our family were seated at the back of the chapel – behind the many families of great importance – still I was expected to sit still and quietly on what turned out to be an even longer and more elaborate ceremony than Ketzal's but I was relieved to find that we were ushered from the reception as quickly as possible despite Ketzal's nasty glares at her new in-laws and Papa's loud protests.

The carriage to take us home arrived the following day. I was sad to leave the beautiful city, but I vowed I'd be back for good one day, I think it was the first time I really realised that there was a life outside the small village that I had grown up in, that I could be part of that different life. And as I passed the ivy covered university on the way back home I knew what my first step would be.

We barely heard from Starina again. She was now far too high and mighty to visit us, nor were we invited to the birthing ceremony of her daughter, Proserpina, it didn't make much difference to me – only that father had one more thing to complain about – and one more child to boast about.

But I had seen firsthand someone like me achieve success and win my father's love. It made me even more determined to achieve my goal.


	9. When Life's Unfair

_Year 1254 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

I never thought I would miss Starina, never mind so soon after she had left. However, barely a year later, I found myself hating her for leaving.

"What? But Papa, that's completely unfairifyed!"

"Don't you dare speak to me like that girl!"

But I refused to back down, not for this, "Ianu doesn't have to."

"Ianu would benefit from an education, all you are meant to do is help your father and later your husband, and I need help collecting in the harvest – especially with this year's rainfall and Starina's absence."

I silently cursed the good harvest, "But Papa, I like school."

"And I like little girls who are seen but not heard, but no one ever gets something because they like it, do they?"

"But even Ket didn't give up school at eleven," I whined, "and Rina got to stay on until she was sixteen."

"And did it improve their chances of a good marriage?"

"It might have done," I insisted belligerently, "you wouldn't know – because you took them out of school later than me."

"Nonsense! How dare you disrespect my opinions, when I have kept you clothed and fed for nearly twelve years? I don't see Notta complaining about them."

I looked at my sister, Notta had never cared much for school but she knew how much it meant to me, I begged her with my eyes to stand up for me.

She sighed, "Papa, surely you could let her go in at least a couple of days a week…"

He turned and glared at her; she smiled at me apologetically and slipped out of the room.

"But Papa," I begged again, "Ianu's a boy, he's stronger than me, surely it would be more beneficial to take him out…"

"Hey leave me out of this!" Ianu called from the other side of the room, "I want to go to school. I have loads and loads of friends there!"

I scowled at him, albeit only half heartedly, even Papa wasn't inclined to think that a small nine-year-boy was stronger than his growing (although more sideways than I would have liked) nearly twelve-year-old sister.

I tried once more, "Pleeeeease Papa? I'll wake up at three every day and go to bed at midnight to make sure I get everything you want done, and I'll make sure I run home from school everyday…"

"DELVA! I said no and that is final, now get some work done and get out of my sight before I have to drag you there myself!"

For the next few weeks I was thoroughly miserable. School had always been the highlight of my days, it was a chance of escaping home for a few hours and settling myself in something I loved. Father had also dashed my hopes of ever going to Shiz, the thought that just weeks ago I thought that one day I could attend that beautiful ivy covered university only made me feel worse – that dream seemed so far out of reach now. I would grow up to be an ordinary housewife (if I was even able to find a husband who wanted me) I would never do anything extraordinary, I would never make Oz great again, I would never make Papa proud of me.

* * *

"Del, wake up! Del!"

I groaned, what was the point of getting out of bed when there was nothing to look forward to?

"Del, I said wake up. Do I have to pull the blanket off you? Because I will if I have to."

"But Notta it's still dark."

"No it isn't, the curtains are just shut," she went over to the window to draw them, a pathetic patch of light trickled out, "well, it's kind of light, anyway don't you know what day it is?"

"Yes, it's my birthday, and I'm tired."

"No, it's your birthday, you're twelve, and I'm not going away before I give you my present or have fetched a bucket of water and tipped it over your head, the choice is yours."

I sighed, there was no way of stopping Notta when she was in this mood, "fine, fine, I'm getting up." I moved myself to a sitting position and tried to wrench my eyes open.

Notta grinned, dumping a large package on my bed, "Happy birthday Del!"

Her smile was contagious, and I willingly ripped the paper off the parcel. My eyes widened, "But Notta, they're…"

"The school books for the years you're missing, I know!" she said, ecstatic with my reaction, "Now if you don't understand anything in the first two books I can probably help you with them – and after that – well we'll see if we can convince Papa to let you go to night school or something by that time shall we?"

It took me a while to regain my voice, instead I just hugged my lovely big sister tightly, "thank you, thank you, thank you!" I squealed eventually.

She laughed, "It's nothing Del, don't worry, I'll make sure you get into Shiz, if it's the last thing I do."


	10. Good News

_Year 1259 – during the great rule of our 37th Ozma_

"Three letters for you, Papa," Notta said as she returned to the breakfast table, passing the relevant envelopes to him, "and," she smiled, "one for you, Del."

I instantly perked up, despite the fact I had got barely any sleep after night school, "really?"

She grinned and carefully placed the letter in front of me – seal up. I screamed.

Papa glared at me. Ianu – who had heard almost as much of my non-stop babbling about it for the past few weeks as Notta – rolled his eyes.

Notta just laughed, "You might want to open it first Del."

I eagerly tore open the envelope, nearly destroying it in the process, and pulled out my long awaited letter. As my eyes skimmed over the paper my smile grew even larger.

Notta watched me, amused, "what does it say?"

"Dear Miss Delva Morrible," I read out loud, "We are delighted to offer you a full scholarship to Shiz University starting next academic year. Enclosed is a form to inform us whether you can accept this place. We hope that you will choose to join us at our fine institution, if so please arrive at Shiz University on Monday the 1st of September 1260 no later than 9 o'clock. Enclosed is a book list…"

"What is this?"

"It's a letter saying I can go to Shiz University Papa!"

He raised his eyebrows, "I believe it is my choice if you can go."

My face fell, "Please, please, please Papa?"

"How did you get into this… Shaz place?"

"Shiz," I corrected automatically, "I sent them an essay I wrote and asked them for a scholarship – and they said yes!"

"And you expect me to pay for you to go there? It's bad enough you insist on going to that night school…"

"But father, I have been offered a scholarship! I can go there for free."

"Including all the things on the book list?"

I hesitated, "Well…"

He scowled, "As I thought, I'm not paying."

"Look Papa, I'll pay," Notta sighed, she'd taken a job helping at the hospital in the large town nearby, when Papa didn't need help on the farm, hoping to become a nurse.

I looked at her, "are you sure?" I knew her wages were pitiful, and she was trying to save enough for a flat in the town so she could live closer to the hospital.

She smiled, "its fine Del, I'll earn more and you're not likely to get a chance like this again."

I hugged her, "oh thank you, thank you, I promise I'll repay you when I become rich!"

"Wait, I haven't said yes yet. Who's to do your chores when you're gone?"

I turned to my father, "but just think Papa, I'll be one fewer mouth to feed and I won't come back – except on holidays – and even then I'll do loads and loads of chores and I'll stay at Ket's instead if I want you too."

This obviously appeased him, but he frowned, "I'm still not sure about this, a woman's place is as a wife, Starina was already getting married at your age and I must say this is a more preferable option even for a girl of your plain looks…"

"But Papa…"

"Oh just let her go," snapped Ianu, "or we'll never hear the end of it."

Father looked at him, clearly surprised at his outburst.

Ianu shrugged, "Come on, if she really wants to go why not let her? Notta and I can take over her chores pretty easily."

Father hesitated, "Well… if you put it that way… fine Delva you can go."

I screamed again.

"Lurline Del, turn the volume down, some people appreciate their eardrums intact." Ianu commented, I simply grinned at him, on another day I would have been annoyed that father listened to him far more than he did to me, but not on the day of my victory. I had done it! I was in! My dreams were coming true! I would finally make something out of myself!

My bags were packed and I was all ready to go within a week, before Notta reminded me – unable to hold back her laughter – that I was still not going for a good few months. Naturally the time had never passed more slowly and father gave me more chores than ever, but for once I didn't care – I was going to Shiz!


	11. Beginnings

**Part 2**

_Year 1260 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

I was placed in a dorm. I'm not sure why I was surprised – a student paying no fees was hardly likely to get a private suite. I guess it was the fact that, at least in the dorms, the place I dreamed about felt like – well – home. Eleven squealing girls more than made up for the loss of my four squabbling siblings and once again I was the odd one out.

I suppose it didn't occur to me that girls of my class did not usually go to university, and while there were several other scholarship girls in my dorm they still came from families with much more money than my own. If being in the minority by being female was not bad enough everyone seemed to think that it was highly amusing to comment on the fact I only had two dresses and that my schoolbooks were all second hand. Having previously been mostly picked on by my sister and her friends, it was at Shiz that I first gained the nickname Horrible Morrible, although it was not by far the last time it was used.

Lessons were not all I expected them to be either, while the quality of information and teaching was amazing (although I still could barely manage to believe anything told to me by an Animal), I had forgotten what it was like to be in a proper class. While at night school only those who had really wanted to be there had gone, Shiz seemed to be comprised of a group of rich kids who wanted to have as much fun as they could before they were forced to go home and rule over whatever grand estate their families owned and therefore thought they were far too important to listen in lessons.

I had never been so lonely. I could not even complain to Notta as, although I wrote to her regularly, she had worked so hard to get me into Shiz in the first place I could hardly tell her it was not up to my expectations.

To get away from my dorm mates and the pupils in general I took to spending hours studying in the library. It was almost always empty, as not everyone seemed to appreciate the education so few of Oz was able to receive as I did. However, as I already excelled in most of my lessons it seemed pointless to continue to go through books on topics I already understood, so I started letting my eyes wander to the other sections of the library.

It was on one such evening that I saw it. In a dark dusty corner of the library was a large dirty book with a moth eaten velvety red cover, I was drawn to it instantly. With an odd feeling of trepidation I walked towards the shelf and gently slid it out. The title was in an elaborate gold font, _sorcery for beginners._ I gasped, while of course I knew of magic it was a fairly taboo subject in the time of the Ozmas and of course was not taught at such a respectable University as Shiz. As a little girl I had been told tales of evil sorceresses from my sisters and, of course, of Kumbricia the wickedest witch of all time and the source of all evil. _But wasn't Lurline a witch too?_ My curious side reasoned, _surely magic could be used for good?_ Anyway what harm would it do to have a look?

Had I known how much this one action would affect my future – and indeed the future of all of Oz – maybe I would not have not have been so eager to open it. Then again my curiosity of what lay beneath the pages and the desire to be noticed may still have got the better of me. In any case that evening, unaware of the consequences, Delva opened her first sorcery book.

I didn't bother leaving the library at all that night, so engrossing was the large red book, I had no idea how much one could do with magic! Of course despite muttering the spells under my breath I hadn't managed to actually make any of them work, but that would come in time, I assured myself. Apparently the only people who could master spells without practice were so called 'children of both worlds'. I hadn't known that there was another world but, as this book I had fast begun to regard as a sacred text told me so, I too believed that there was a world somewhere outside the world I knew and very occasionally someone from that word would arrive in ours. Any offspring of two people from the different worlds would be incredibly powerful. However, with practice, others could also become powerful sorcerers.

My determination paid off sometime around five o'clock that morning when I attempted a simple spell for controlling the air around me and was rewarded when a light breeze blew through the library ruffling the neatly stacked sheets of paper but making a huge grin spread across my face; if I could master the art of magic I could have the world – both worlds – at my feet!

I snuck the book out that morning – there was no point borrowing something I didn't intend to give back – and proceeded to spend all my free time over the next few weeks reading it. By the end of the month I could perform several simple spells: I could light a candle with a click of my fingers, I could turn matchsticks into needles and, if I concentrated really hard, I could change the colour of small objects (although only to a different shade of that colour).

But my real pride was my ability to control the weather. It was far from perfect, or even very powerful, but I was now able to direct the breeze I had managed to summon in different directions and sometimes even focus it on a certain point. I was pretty sure I could stop – or at least decrease the amount of rain in a small area that surrounded me and I had even once managed to create a tiny rain cloud in my dorm – much to the distaste of my dorm mates.

Whatever the case, I was improving and I knew it, it gave me great satisfaction to be learning an art that so few knew. As spring blossomed and the days grew warmer I took to spending my free time by the lake reading the new information…

"Hey!" A young man with a handsome face and easy grace walked up to me, "it's Delly isn't it?"

"Delva," I corrected him, blushing slightly, it had been a long time since someone my own age had spoken to me civilly – never mind someone so good looking.

He flashed me a smile, "I prefer Delly," and I found I did too, "I'm Kalidah, you're in my Ozma History class right?"

I nodded, everyone had to study the history of the Ozmas, it was one of my least favourite subjects – mainly because all we seemed to learn was how great our current ruler and her ancestors were but also because it was taught by a Bull – however, I still found it fairly easy to do well in.

"Well, I was wondering if you could help me with the essay we were set, you see I really don't understand it."

"Sure," I replied and was thrilled when he sat down beside me.

It turned out he had not been lying about not understanding it, he was completely useless at the subject, after about twenty minutes at attempting to teach him what he needed to know I gave up.

"Look, I'll write you what you should put and you can copy it up ok?"

His face broke into a large grin, "Thanks Delly! I owe you one, how about I buy you a drink sometime?"

And suddenly Shiz and its pupils didn't seem at all bad.


	12. Ends

_Year 1261 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

I took to helping Kalidah with his homework as the spring edged on, although by helping it normally meant me doing the work and him talking to me I did not have any problem with the relationship. There would be days spent together by the lake dedicated to this (he was very distracting) or us simply talking without the pretence of work. I felt that I grew closer to him every passing day, although still not as close as I wished to be, for now a handsome King of Oz ruled alongside me in my dreams of my future.

I continued to study sorcery as well; I finished reading my book and began to start mastering the harder spells in it, and while I still struggled with many elements of controlling magic I began longing for a more complex book with more powerful spells. However, I soon learnt that these books were few and far between, magic had not been respected in Oz recently and in fact my own book had been lucky to have not fallen subject to the spell book burning of the 35th Ozma and while Oz's hatred of magic had calmed down since then no one was inclined to reprint them.

But what fascinated me the most was the legend of the great spell book, the grimmerie, it was said to be written in the ancient language of spells and therefore held the most powerful of spells. It was said to contain spells to give the power of flight, the ability to control any type of fire, ways to cheat death and, what fascinated me the most, all the ways to control the weather – and not just the simple type in my own pathetic spell book – the most powerful of storms were said to be able to be conjured and controlled. I already knew my talent in magic was to be able to control the weather and the idea of having such power at my fingertips was enthralling.

The control of the weather I that I did have was increasing by the day. Nowadays, when I concentrated, I could completely control the weather of a small area around me – I could summon a rain cloud above or near me or could clear them on rainy days.

It was on one such day, when the rain was pouring down and the clouds were covering the sky, that I showed my abilities to Kalidah. We were the only people outside, the rest of the school having fled the rain, in our normal place by the lake and what seemed like the only tiny area in Oz still full of sunshine.

Kalidah laughed, "This is amazing Delly, who knew a girl like you was so powerful?"

I smiled shyly, "Well… it did take a lot of practice."

"I think it's great," he declared, "and just think, now we have the whole of the Shiz grounds to ourselves!" he winked seductively and then suddenly he was kissing me, hard, and my whole body turned to jelly and I couldn't think straight and I lost my concentration so the rain once again poured down upon us, but I barely noticed or if I did I didn't care, it was my first kiss and it was wonderful.

The summer that followed was bliss. I spent my days with Kalidah or if not thinking about him, even my dreams were filled with him. My letters to Notta became shorter and less descriptive as I became much too busy with Kalidah to spend time thinking of her. I knew was in love with him.

It was a midsummer's day that Kalidah came to meet me only to announce he'd left his essay in his room, he ran back to get it me thoughtlessly following him.

When we entered his room all thoughts of the essay were forgotten as he pulled me too him fiercely and started to push me towards the bed. For a second I doubted whether I should go ahead with this. Images of the disapproving glares of the prudent people of the time, rules that I was expected to live by flashed up in my mind. I dismissed them; it had worked for Starina hadn't it? _She was very lucky,_ came a niggling voice in my head, _you know she would have been disowned if she had ended up in that situation and hadn't managed to wed the man._ This thought made me uneasy for a second until his lips reached my collarbone and it slipped out of head. I was with him, nothing could go wrong, I was going to get my happy ending…

After that I regularly visited his bedroom afterhours sometimes even staying the night. I wondered if any of the girls in my dorm wondered about my absence, or even noticed. I decided I didn't care, it wasn't _them_ getting all this attention from Kalidah, or at least that was what I thought…

There's not much I can remember about that devastating day before I saw the event but whatever the case I happened to be passing a bench on the Shiz grounds when my world was torn apart. Kalidah was on it his lips locked and his hands in a none to decent position on another girl. I strode up to them furiously pulling them apart.

She had the decency to look guilty, made an excuse and shuffled away quickly. He, however, stood his ground looking more annoyed at the interruption than anything else.

When I got my voice back I shouted, "What do you think you were doing?" and more quietly, "why?"

He shrugged, "she's richer and prettier than you, and to be honest Delly, I'm hardly a one woman man. It was fun and the sex and free work was good while it lasted though," he sneered and walked casually away as the crowd that had gathered around us burst into sniggers and jeers – reminding me a lot of Rina and her friends a Ketzal's wedding – although they seemed positively harmless now compared to the vicious, snobby children of Shiz. Thunder clouds built up around me soaking us all to the bone, the others shrieked and ran for cover, while I, having nowhere more private to go, collapsed on the sodden ground more salt water covering my face than rain.

It was the first time in a long while that I let my tears overwhelm me. I remembered Starina's words at Ketzal's wedding, _I'm just making sure you don't get the delusion that you'd ever find someone willing to marry you,_ they had never seemed more true. Shiz, the place I had dreamed about for so long, was just as cruel – as horrible – as the rest of my life had been.

Anger, bitterness and the desire for revenge would set in later but just for that moment all I could feel was despair as my whole heart broke to pieces. Never, I vowed, would I love someone so much again.


	13. The Seeds of Darkness

_Year 1262 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

After Kalidah I gave up trying to fit in with the other Shizians. I immersed myself into my school studies and sorcery (although there was only so far I could go with one simple spell book). The only vaguely social activity I took part in were my letters to Notta, which once again became longer and written with more care. Not long after the events with Kalidah I spent a few weeks with her in my holidays in late summer. She had not yet saved up enough money to rent her own flat but she had convinced Papa to let me stay at home for the duration.

I didn't want to tell her about it, that my dream was not so perfect, but Notta had always been able to read me like a book and it had all come out. It was nice, I had to admit, to have a shoulder to cry on.

After remaining silent for a few minutes she turned her face towards mine, "Look Del, maybe it was not all it seemed, but still, you're doing what you want aren't you? No matter how bad it seems, look where you are, look at all the things you're learning! These are the children of the Nobles in the Ozma's court and you're beating them in every test! One day you'll grow up and with all your knowledge you'll be big and important and doing something you love! There are some horrible – truly wicked – people in this world who won't like it, but we Morrible girls have to be strong, we have to fight back. And remember Del, _I'm_ proud of you, and I'll always be there for you – I promise."

I took Notta's words to heart, when I returned to Shiz I decided to fight back. So, while I buried myself in my studies so much that I, once again, became invisible, I was watching. Always watching.

Kalidah, it seemed, was very fickle in his taste in women. He would go out with one until one who was prettier or of better status came along, but sometime the following year he struck gold. Ave Picador was small, blonde, pretty, airheaded and the daughter of one of the Ozma's chief advisers, Lord Picador. However, what interested me was her brother, Ibbon was the ringleader of a large, thuggish and not at all pleasant (but of course popular) gang. He was rich, stupid and hugely protective of his little sister. Already I had seen him shouting at Kalidah for their, rather public, kissing spectacles (that I watched dispassionately and from my hiding place) Ibbon was much bigger than Kalidah and obviously terrified him.

 _And he was barely threatening him,_ I though with a sly smile, _I wonder how he would react if Ibbon gave him a real reason to be scared…_ and so I started to set my plan into motion.

It was surprisingly easy. Shiz's campus didn't seem to find it hard to believe that Kalidah had, once again, cheated on his girlfriend. I didn't want to be revealed as the source of these rumours so I only mentioned to a couple of the gossips seeing Kalidah with another girl, being seemingly oblivious that she was not his girlfriend (because it is a common but fatal misconception to think that that those that are invisible cannot see), or forged one more point on the notes that I was forced to pass from one girl to another during class or wrote the odd bit of graffiti here and there with incriminating messages. Whatever the case soon the whole campus was certain that Kalidah was cheating on Ave. Including Ibbon.

Suddenly, the atmosphere around Shiz changed significantly; the tension in the air was palpable. Ibbon and his gang went around scowling and clenching their fists, Kalidah was barely seen and the rest of the Shizians went around in excited or nervous gaggles whispering or giggling. From my place, unnoticed, on the sidelines I felt an odd sense of power knowing that I was the one who had caused all of this.

The tension climaxed one day during lunchtime, I found an enormous crowd gathered on Shiz's ground. Curious, I joined them, asking a girl nearby what was going on.

"Ibbon's found Kalidah," she whispered back. I struggled through the crowd to get a better view, while still staying far enough back to remain unnoticed. I watched as Kalidah fell to the floor, surrounded by Ibbon and his gang, being kicked senseless. I heard him cry out in pain and for a moment a felt a rush of guilt, but then I remembered what he had done to me – how he had destroyed me – and the guilt rushed away as soon as it had come. As I watched I felt a strange sense of satisfaction wash over me, he was finally paying for the pain he had caused me, revenge _was_ sweet.

Kalidah never returned to Shiz, I don't think he was permanently injured, although he may have ended up with a few broken bones and hopefully a scar or two on his stupidly handsome face. Ibbon and his gang were punished of course, but not harshly enough to get kicked out of Shiz, Ibbon's father was far too important for that. And I gained my first sense of just how powerful gossip was.

And how good I was at influencing it.


	14. The End of Childhood

_Year 1264 – during the great rule of our 37_ _th_ _Ozma_

The day had finally arrived, it was hard to believe it really, my four years at Shiz had gone so quickly and now I was about to graduate with honours! I had spent all morning putting on makeup and doing my hair – I wanted to look perfect for the big day. Notta had promised to come, and possibly Ketzal depending on whether she could afford to leave her ever-growing family. I hadn't seen them for ages and Notta was eager to tell me about the new flat she'd finally been able to afford – although she'd been spending more time at home recently as father's health was dwindling.

I looked around my dorm for the final time somewhat sadly, I really would miss Shiz, before following my excitable dorm mates to the graduation hall where a huge mass of proud relations were already gathered.

It seemed to last a lifetime before the ceremony actually started and by the time my name was actually called out I was sure they had forgotten me (despite the list being alphabetical),practically running on stage I looked over the many heads until at last I saw Notta smiling up at me, as soon as I was dismissed from the stage I ran over to her, she enveloped me in a bear hug.

"Del! I knew you could do it! I'm so proud of you! Ket says she's sorry she couldn't come but…" her voice hitched, I looked up at her and noticed for the first time that her eyes were red.

"Notta! What's the matter?" I asked instantly.

She sighed, a tear now running down her face, "Oh Del, I didn't want to tell you right now and ruin your big day, but it's father – he died last night."

And suddenly all my excitement and triumph vanished.

We left the party afterwards early, neither of us were really in the mood, and took a carriage back home travelling in silence. I looked out at the fields as we passed them, like I had on the way to Starina's wedding, but now they were yellow and dying, a drought had hit Oz last summer and I had heard that some people were already starving.

We arrived at the farmhouse in the early evening, "It's been left to Ianu of course," Notta told me, a tad bitterly, I knew full well that money was still tight for her, "but we're staying here as well for the moment to be closer to the proceedings and to look after the poor boy."

"Poor boy?" I questioned, "He's nearly nineteen and he appears a lot better off than we are at the moment."

"He's our brother," Notta replied calmly, "he's just lost his father too and has inherited a farm that he has little idea on how to manage we need to offer him some support," a scowl crossed her face, "if we can get him away from his damn _girlfriend_."

I looked at her, surprised, Notta rarely showed contempt for any human being, "She's that bad?"

Notta nodded grimly, "She's that bad." We knocked on the door.

We were answered by a short girl of about eighteen with light red hair, "Oh Nottie, it's good to see you again!" she gave me a large plastered smile, "and you must be another of my Nunu's sisters! Come in, come in."

We followed her in reluctantly, "Nunu?" I muttered to Notta.

"You get used to it eventually," she grumbled, "almost."

"I can't believe he lets her," I smirked. Notta didn't put much effort into hiding a matching grin.

The sight of our brother wiped any signs of humour away and brought us back to reality. We had never been particularly close but the sight of him, red faced, hunched over the table – very much still a child – summoned all the elder sister instinct I didn't know I had.

"Ianu, how are you?" I asked, cautiously, because I already knew the answer to 'are you ok?'

"Oh he's been so sad at the moment," the girlfriend butted in, "but we haven't met properly yet have we? You must be Delva, Nunu's told me so much about you, I'm Zixi, Ianu's girlfriend, well fiancé!" she informed me wiggling her ring finger.

"Lurline help us," Notta mumbled as I felt a wave of jealousy shoot through me, even my kid brother and this annoying… thing had found love, why couldn't I?

"We moved father's body down to the chapel yesterday," Notta informed me, her tone businesslike, "Ketzal's coming round tomorrow morning. I think we'd best retire now we've had a long day. We're in our old room, I assume, Ianu?"

He nodded not looking up. I patted his back awkwardly, wishing I could do more for him, but knowing I couldn't with _the fiancé_ around.

Ketzal took one look at Zixi at the breakfast table, when she arrived the next morning, and suggested that Notta and I took a walk with her around the farmland.

"The funeral's set for Sunday. His body's on display at the crypt so Lurline can see him before he's buried," she said, referring to the Lurlinest tradition of leaving the dead on display before the funeral. "Now are you two ok?"

To be honest I didn't know. At the moment it felt like I was in a warped memory, like so many of the strolls we'd taken in our youth, with a gaping hole that had been usually filled by Starina and Papa's threats of what would happen if we did not get home on time.

After it was obvious no one was going to answer Ketzal's question, I asked, "Is Rina coming?"

Ketzal shook her head, "I wrote to her, she offered her condolences but no, she's not coming home."

"It's funny," said Notta softly, "We used to always be together, Rina, you two and I, I never thought it would end. But now, well, you with your own family Ket, and you've been at Shiz Del, and Rina's all but disappeared, it's never going to happen again is it?"

We looked down sadly, once again unable to answer the question.

"I'll miss him," Ketzal said eventually. We nodded in agreement, not only was it the end of our father but it seemed like the end of our childhood, our careless memories of the four of us pottering around the farm, happy, seemed to be being burred with him.

"We'll just have to remember the good times with him," Ketzal said mechanically. We agreed enthusiastically, but all silently admitted there had not been so many of those, we could not say it now but he had never been the best of fathers, yet the pain of losing him was still very real.

 _And he never got a chance to be proud of me._ Perhaps that was what hurt the most.

* * *

I moved out of the farm house fairly soon after the funeral. Notta's flat was tiny - especially with the two of us – but it was one hundred times better than living with Zixi. I tried to find a job but there were very few jobs open to women – educated or not – especially with the drought continuing. So I was forced to linger around the flat all day trying to make myself useful by helping with the housework and the cleaning. Notta was always busy, nursing was a hard business and she would return at all hours.

"How do you manage?" I asked her one day after she returned, haggard, at 2 in the morning, "They work you too hard Notta and you shouldn't be out so late at night – it's dangerous."

She shook her head, "It's exhausting Del, but I love it, and don't worry I'm perfectly safe in this town! It's just so satisfying to help people, to save lives. Anyway, every few weeks or so my friends in the town come round for a get-together and it's always very relaxing to be with them for a change – not that it's not wonderful to have you round all the time now." She smiled at me carelessly.

One such get-together happened a few days later, the first few of Notta's friends seemed friendly enough and we got talking well enough, it was only when a group of her friends arrived later that at the sight of them I had to restrain myself from gasping with shock, and could barely talk for the rest of the night. _No! She couldn't! She hadn't! Not Notta!_

As soon as the last guest had left the flat I turned to Notta, "What do you think you're doing Notta? You invited _Animals_ round."

Notta rounded on me "So that what was the matter was with you? You've been shut up like a clam all night! They're my friends and they're perfectly nice I don't see what's wrong with them."

I scowled back, "You heard what Papa said, you must have, they ruined Oz."

Notta brushed my words off with "Oh, you have to take what Papa said with a pinch of salt, and even if some Animals did, you can't judge a whole race – hundreds of species of Animals – on the actions of a few."

The shock of Notta arguing with me was minimized by the shock of her denouncing father's views, "But Notta…"

"No Delva, I won't hear another word about it, I can have Animal friends if I want, this conversation is over," she snapped and left the room.

The next morning everything seemed back to normal, we never mentioned the conversation again, but there was an unseen tension between us that there never was before. Neither of us had forgotten it and we both knew it. I took to doing my best to avoid the get-togethers for the next few months if I could and Notta never questioned it.

However, it was from one of these get-togethers, which I had not managed to escape from, that I heard about Mombi. Mombi was a sorceress, living in the mountainous regions of the Gillikin and said to be one of the most talented at magic in all of Oz. I was still passionate about sorcery, the book I had found at the Shiz Library was now 'permanently borrowed' and always in my bedroom. Still feeling guilty about intruding on Notta's tiny flat and still wanting to find my purpose in life I decided to visit her, maybe ask for tutoring in return for helping her around the house. Because one way or another I had to respect my father's memory prove that, despite what he had thought in his life, I would put honour to the Morrible name, I would make Oz great and would make his spirit proud.


	15. At the House of the Sorceress

_Year 1267 – during the splendifyed rule of our 38_ _th_ _Ozma_

It was the letter that changed everything. It was not the first, nor the last, letter that would change my life but it was infinitely the most painful. The envelope, passed so casually across the breakfast table ("you've got a letter, girl."), opened with such enthusiasm, the wording so bluntly formal and uncaring somehow making the devastating content even worse. I had a violent urge to throw up as I sat staring at the words boring into me and wondered how just moments ago I had been, for once in my wretched life, content.

I had been working for Mombi for over two years at the time. It was undeniably hard work, the old hag expected me to be up from the break of dawn to well into the night to serve her every need, but the housework I was used to – I may have become a but lax at it at Shiz but having to do chores around the house and the farm for as long as I could remember was something that I never forgot how to do and was easy enough to get back into the routine of – and it was well worth it for the other tasks she set me.

Mombi had a fascinating collection of old spellbooks and potion recipes, some, she confessed to me, the where only copies left in existence. I loved dusting her bookshelves just to look at the covers and titles (and sometimes taking a peek inside) of these powerful books that put my own pitifully basic spellbook to shame. I would spend hours 'working' in her study until eventually Mombi would find me, incredibly late for my next task, and shout at me because her books on the Ozmas still had a thick layer of dust upon them.

I never did get to the bottom of Mombi's obsession with the Ozmas. She seemed convinced (despite the fact that, to this day, I've never found any evidence to support it) that Oz's incompetent rulers were descended from Lurline herself and therefore had extremely powerful magic lying dormant inside them. As much as I admired Mombi's magic I could not believe that a group of foolish rich girls could store any kind of magic in their pretty little heads so I dismissed her views as superstitious nonsense.

Other times she'd ask me to help her with her potions, having previously only known about the spell casting side of sorcery, this new art intrigued me. I loved to watch the elaborate shapes the smoke curled into as the potion simmered and the puffs of coloured smoke the cauldron let off as a new ingredient was added. Potions, Mombi told me, tended to influence a more subtle type of magic. A master of potions could brew liquids to make one experience almost any emotion: hate, happiness, jealously, embarrassment, lust, even submissiveness. Other types of potions could cure or cause illnesses, wipe one's memory, turn the drinker into a marble statue and one (although I was told it was immensely complicated and the recipe probably lost to Oz) could even reverse transformation spells.

But no matter how amazifying I found my chores they were nothing compared to the magic lessons that Mombi gave me. I had never had a tutor for sorcery before but Mombi appeared to be one of the best. The lessons were exhausting and "you're useless girl!" was Mombi's most frequently uttered phrase but I was no stranger to scolding and all the criticism only made me more determined to master whatever she taught me. Anyway, however amateur my efforts in sorcery proved to be, I was improving by the day and, although she would never admit it, Mombi was proud of my progress. As I mastered more and more of the magic she taught she gave me some of her less valuable spellbooks and potion recipes, as a reward for my hard work, naturally they instantly became some of my most treasured possessions.

But it took me about two years to discover the greatest treasure in Mombi's lair. It was the darkest of nights and I was helping her brew a complex potion in which certain ingredients had to be added at midnight on a new moon. The potion was fiddly and would only work if exactly the right amount of ingredients were added and not a pinch more or less. It was especially tricky as we only had the flickering candle light to guide us and, as the clock ticked towards the twelfth hour, it seemed that we would not manage to prepare the ingredients in time with the meagre light.

After emitting a frustrated sigh Mombi strode over to an old chest in the corner of the room that I had not noticed before and inserted one of the keys that she always wore around her neck into it. What lay inside took my breath away. It was old, tattered and dusty but the elaborate decoration and ancient writing on the cover was unmistakable, it was the grimmerie. Mombi unceremoniously grabbed the sacred book and flicked to the right page, looking over her shoulder I could not decipher any of the words as they seemed to move around the page before my eyes. She chanted the foreign language for a minute or two in a steady rhythm and suddenly the room was filled with an almost blinding light.

"That's better," she muttered then noticed me still staring, awestruck, at the book, "well get on with it girl!" I obeyed her, finished preparing the ingredients and placed them into the potion but the next morning I asked her about it.

"Mombi, however did you manage to get hold of the grimmerie?"

She shrugged, "Picked it up somewhere – it's bound to come up sometime if the right dealers know that you're interested in magic books."

"Why haven't I seen it before then?" I asked.

"I can't read most of it can I?" she snapped, "Only that spell and a few of the other more simple ones – it can take decades to decipherate some of those spells."

"So you don't use it?" I asked, shocked.

"Not much," she replied indifferently, "most of the spells won't reveal themselves to me and a busy woman like me simply does not have the time to study them."

"So why do you keep it?" I asked, my pulse racing – if she didn't use it I could think of so many better places it could be, for example, in my hands, in my room, in my trunk, in my bag…

Mombi cackled, "Do you know just how powerful this is girl? Some people would do anything for it!" _Like me,_ I thought bitterly. "But they don't have it! It's mine! It's my prize possession and I wouldn't give it away for anything," she said triumphantly, "Except possibly an Ozma," she added as an afterthought.

My blood boiled at this injustice. This was the book I had desired beyond anything else for years and years and yet here it was not even being used. I needed it, I decided, I enjoyed working for Mombi but possessing this book was more important and I would take any opportunity I could to claim it. I spent the next few weeks planning and plotting how to get the key from her neck without her noticing and finding a way to leave Mombi's house with her prize possession without her noticing. I only snapped out of my obsession with news that the postman was coming.

Mombi's village was small and in the middle of nowhere and the post would only be delivered every month or two. This was hard for me as it meant my contact with Notta was severely impaired. Therefore we took to writing long letters to make up for being apart.

I missed her desperately and always eagerly awaited any information about home and her life – Ketzal had had yet another child, Starina, once again, had not bothered to send a Lurlinemas card and Ianu and Zixi had got married, I hadn't even tried to attend the wedding, I had attended enough of those to last a lifetime. We had all but forgotten our argument we had had before I left and with the absence of father and while constantly missing Notta I started to find myself warming to her views on the Animals. After all, Papa had been wrong about lots of things – such as me not doing anything with my life – and if they were Notta's friends they couldn't be all bad, could they?

So it was with great anticipation that I opened the letter that Mombi tossed in my direction. But my face contorted with confusion when, instead of Notta's familiar scrawl, the letter was in a formal, cursive script. Bewildered, I read the first few lines.

My blood ran cold.

_We regret to inform you of the passing of Miss Notta Morrible._


	16. Whatever Way our Stories End

_Year 1267 – during the splendifyed rule of our 38_ _th_ _Ozma_

For a moment I just stared, frozen, unable to take in the words on the page. They couldn't be true, they just couldn't! This was just a nightmare – a dream – a terrible, terrible trick my mind was playing on me. But such delusions did not stop the bile rising in my throat, my heart already knowing what my brain could not admit. Dear, sweet Notta, who had always been there for me… no! There must have been a mistake – the letter was a cruel joke – there was no way that my wonderful sister would dare leave me…

"Are you going to finish your food girl or have I just wasted my precious resources on you?"

Unable to bear Mombi witnessing me at my weakest I ran from the table, my face as white as a sheet, the hateful letter still fisted in my hand.

I don't know how long I spent in my small attic room, tears of grief and denial streaming down my face. When I finally managed to get close to controlling myself I went downstairs to ask Mombi for leave.

"Leave?" she said incredulously, "you expect me to let you come and go as you please? I need you here girl and I refuse to give you time off – why soon you'll want every weekend off."

Normally my temper would have flared up at this injustice and I would have argued but today I was just filled with even more hopelessness. I completed my chores for the rest of the day, as best I could while crying and trying not to succumb to the violent urge to smash something in frustration. But that night I silently packed my bag, waited until I could hear Mombi's snores and crept out of the house. It was weeks before I realised that I had left my grimmerie behind.

To this day I do not know how I managed to find my way home in the state I was in, my mind has blocked most of those pain filled days. The next thing I can really remember is knocking, exhausted, on Ketzal's door sometime in the middle of the night.

Ket took one look at my tearstained face and hauled me inside and into a hug that I accepted passively, "Oh Del, I'm so sorry," she muttered.

She gave me a bath and a spare set of clothes and then found me a spare bed, and tucked my in like I was still a child. I fell into a deep sleep almost instantly, having not had a proper bed for several days, but this did not comfort me as it only meant I could not escape the dreams that Notta haunted – always out of my reach, her eyes terribly blank – the girl that I would never see alive again.

I woke up at about midday. Staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling for a second simply confused about where I was then suddenly it all came rushing back to me as did the impenetrable sense of doom.

Ket came in moments later, "Oh, you're awake," she said, trying and failing to be bright, "are you ok?"

I shook my head, the sense of hopelessness consuming me a little more.

She sighed, "No, I guess your not, is there anything I can do?"

"Can, can I see her?" I asked knowing her little body must still be on display somewhere in the chapel for Lurline to see before she let her into her kingdom. I needed to see her, for one last time.

Ketzal gulped, "Del, I'm not sure that's such a good idea…"

"No please," I said urgently, my voice as strong as I could muster, "I need to say… to say… goodbye…"

She nodded sadly, "I'll just let Gieffe know that he's in charge of the kids and leave you to change then I'll take you down there."

I could barely muster a response as I forced myself out of bed and chucked some clothes on, wondering why I even bothered. I had a fleeting thought that Notta would comfort me as she always had when I felt bad and then I remembered and the pain filled me once again.

Ketzal led me silently to the chapel and into the room where they displayed the dead.

"She's over there," she said softly pointing to a body covered by a white cloth in the far corner. I walked over to her slowly and looked at the distorted shape for a second, wondering why it, unlike the other bodies, was covered. Desperate to see her lovely face for the last time I gently peeled back the cloth.

"Del, no!" Ketzal said quickly, but it was too late, I gasped and then fell to the floor, unable to remain standing when I was shaking so much. Notta was practically unrecognisable; her pretty face was chequered with cuts so deep I could see the bone, her mouth held not her usual cheerful smile but instead was forever frozen in one of complete terror, what I could see of her neck and dress were in tatters too and I had a sickening feeling that the rest of her body was just as bad.

Ketzal put a hand on my shoulder "She's with Lurline now," but I shook my head violently, there couldn't be a Lurline, because no deity would do this, not to my kind, innocent sister, no deity would let me go through this. Surely no greater power would be cruel enough to leave me so alone?

"What happened?" I managed to squeeze out, horrified, when I finally regained the ability to speak.

"She was attacked," Ket replied, her own tears rolling silently down her cheeks, "about a week ago in the early morning when she was returning from work, by a Tiger, they believe, unprovoked."

"They have caught it?" I asked, hoping the Animal got most horrifically punished.

She shook her head sadly, "The best Hawks on the force were sent out, but they had no luck, her body was found too long after her death."

"Why did they not just arrest all the Tigers?" I asked, furious, someone needed to be punished for taking my sister from me.

"They couldn't, there were too many of them," Ket explained.

"But one of them killed Notta," I practically shouted.

"There's nearly one hundred tigers living in the village, they can't arrest all of them, and they can't even confirm that it was a Tiger," Ket said, rather desperately, "it could have been a Lion or even a human with a knife…"

But every prejudice I had ever had against the Animals had already stirred up inside me once again. I knew the Hawks must have let the Tiger escape – the horrible creatures were probably celebrating the death of a human girl right now. Father had been right, all Animals were scum, Notta had been tricked into trusting them and it had resulted in her murder. With a sickening feel I realised that I too had almost been taken in by them, why had I let Notta socialise with them? By doing so I had practically killed her. Never again would I allow myself to think anything good about an Animal.

* * *

The day of the funeral was bright and sunny, as it had been for a good few years now – owing to the continuing drought – but today it felt like it was mocking me. Notta had always loved the sunshine, on better days we would have gone for a walk together, now it would never happen again.

Starina did not attend the funeral, she did not even bother to reply to Ket's letter, she was too important now to care about the fate of her dear, kind sister. Did she not know that we would have gone to her own, no matter how awkward we would have felt alongside the aristocracy? Well I wouldn't now; I would do it for Ketzal and Ianu but not for her.

Ianu stood beside us with Zixi, now heavily pregnant, both of them sobbed as Notta's little body was lowered into the grave and we whispered our final goodbyes. But they did not understand, I thought angrily, they had not loved Notta as much as I had, how much Oz had lost now she was gone forever. I looked at the guests gathered around the grave worthless tears in their eyes, none of them, not one of them, understood how terrible it was that my darling sister was no longer with us. My eyes settled on one guest at the back of the audience and suddenly I was seething with anger.

As soon as her body was covered I moved towards the Sheep.

"What are you doing here?"

Ewetta turned to me, "Delva, I'm so sorry I know how much she meant to…"

"What are you doing here?" I repeated through gritted teeth

"I'm saying goodbye," she replied, "Notta was always kind to me."

"You're saying goodbye?" I asked my voice rising, "What right do you have to say goodbye when it was your kind that killed her?"

"It was not my kind," Ewetta said, eyes narrowing, "Tigers are no closer related to Sheep as they are to humans."

"Get out," I seethed.

"But…"

"OUT!"

Ewetta turned and looked me in the eye, "you know _Del_ , I never thought I'd say this but, you sound just like your father. I suppose you think that's a complement now," she said bitterly and with one more remorseful look at Notta's grave she left.

I walked towards the freshly placed earth as the other guests dispersed for the reception, picking some flowers, like the ones Notta used to show me when we could spend every day together and placed them on her grave.

I thought about all my poor choices that had led to her death, why had I let her become friends with the Animals? Why had I not stopped her from leaving work that late at night? Why had I abandoned her for Shiz and later Mombi, wasting what little time we had had together? How had I let her die?

"Goodbye," I said softly.

She did not reply.

Suddenly I hated the Animals – the vile creatures – that did this to her. I vowed I would get my revenge on them. For Notta.

For surely the cruellest thing you could do to someone was to kill their sister.


	17. And Unexpected Visitor

**Part 3**

_Year 1269 – during the splendifyed rule of our 38_ _th_ _Ozma_

"Notta!"

For the millionth time I turned around, my heart soaring, only for it to sink moments later as, for the millionth time, I scolded myself for yet again hoping that my Notta was there. It was Ianu's voice that always fooled me, there was still a trace in his deep voice that reminded me of the way he would once call Notta. I was always her favourite but she had treated everyone with such kindness and from a young age he had known full well that, if Papa was not around, his best chance to get what he wanted was to ask Notta.

I glared at the mini Zixi in his arms, she hadn't even had the decency to inherit any features from Ianu never mind her namesake, if anyone did not deserve to carry the Morrible name it was this whiny brat. I had enough of whiny brats during the daytime.

After my abrupt departure I knew I could not return to Mombi's so I had gotten a job at the village school I once studied at. Personally, I was highly overqualified, but I needed some money of my own. However, as far as my employers were concerned, fancy degree or not I was a new teacher and should accordingly get the worst classes. After Notta's death I rarely smiled and needless to say that the badly behaved children and any of the little Animals fell under the wrath of Miss Morrible. _Miss_ Morrible, I was the only teacher who was still a Miss, now being seemingly the only person of my age or younger without a husband seemed worse than ever and yet another sign of my degrading life.

Part of me seemed to have died with Notta. Gone was little Delva who always had a big sister to support her and it seemed that with it so had my potential for greatness. Oh how I envied Starina, her husband now one of the Ozma's chief advisers, even Ketzal and Ianu who had a happy family, someone who was always there for them (however annoying) and most of all had managed to get over Notta's death.

I had not. Every night I woke up in the same bed I had for the first sixteen years of my life, her broken body piercing my nightmares, and looked over at her bed, still beside my own, to find it brutally empty. Every day whenever I saw something colourful or pretty I thought about how much my sister would have loved it.

I had been staying in the old farmhouse with Ianu and his family for the past few years after Ketzal had told me, as politely as she could, that she could not afford to keep me during the drought when she had to feed her new family. I believe she regretted it; the service I provided to Ianu, Zixi and their annoying infant was so valuable that I did not need to pay of my meagre, but important, salary to him for rent.

The Great Drought, as it was now known, was currently dragging Oz into a famine the likes of which I had never known. Water, crops, meat, even clothing were becoming scarce and only the rich and the Ozma could afford to eat well. I still practiced sorcery using the spellbooks Mombi had given me, particularly the weather spells and the size of the rainclouds I could summon was getting larger by the day. Needless to say Ianu's field was the only green one around.

I did not try to hide my contempt for the fake Notta now in Ianu's arms as I sat down to breakfast willing myself to face another day. The never-ending cycle of village life, how often I wished for it to change.

The change came sooner than I expected. A few weeks later, in early spring, I was sitting down at the table eating my breakfast, not bothering to even try to get a word in edgeways during Zixi's constant babble to no one in particular, when Ianu came in from feeding the chickens, excited.

"Zixi, Notta, Del, look! There's something in the sky!"

I shrugged indifferently, I had never really cared about birds, and the mention of Notta's name, even if it was not referring to my sister, had made my throat tighten. Zixi, on the other hand, instantly grabbed her annoying child, got out of her chair and looked out the window.

Her eyes widened, "Wow, look Nottie! What is it Nunu?"

"I don't know," Ianu said, sounding genuinely bewildered, he looked at me still eating my bread, uninterested, "come on Del, maybe you can tell us."

"I'm sure you can survive."

He sighed, used to my moods, "Come on, it won't kill you."

I rolled my eyes but humoured him and reluctantly got up. When I reached the window I had to, for once, agree with my brother, it was the strangest sight I had ever seen. It was hard to see as it was very far in the distance but it appeared to be a green balloon flying through the sky attached to it was what looked a box and in it (was it possible?) appeared to be a person.

We watched it for a few moments as it drifted across the sky, "Well it's certainly odd," Ianu commented, Zixi agreed loudly and I nodded, finding it hard to keep the appearance of being uninterested.

The children at the school were all buzzing at the strange sight until I ordered them to write me an essay in silence, I heard a few mutters of "horrible Morrible," children are rarely creative. Still, I watched the balloon idly out of the window of the silent classroom, wondering why it was there, if there really was a person in it and what it meant for the future of Oz.

Gossip spread quickly in this drought infested country so it was less than a week later that I found out that the balloon had indeed carried a person. The balloon, which apparently up close had _Oz_ scrawled in cursive yellow letters, had landed in the centre of Ozma Town. Its passenger was now staying in Ozma town and was rumoured to be sent by Lurline to save Oz. I no longer believed in Lurline but I wondered whether this man who, saviour or not, was obviously a very powerful magician (how else could he have made a balloon fly like that?) and I wondered whether he could be the answer to my own hopes and dreams, whether he could help me with my own ambitions.

Some people are born with green skin or are known for arriving in Oz in a flying house. I had to work to be noticed, to fulfil my dreams of being great. So I decided to visit this 'saviour of Oz' to see if, even with his superior magic, he could find a use for some of my skills. To see if I could do my bit to make Oz a better place.


	18. Off to see the Wizard

_Year 1269 – during the splendifyed rule of our 38_ _th_ _Ozma_

Ozma town was not how I remembered it. Oh it still showed the splendour of Oz's Capital City, a place worthy of the Ozma's grandest palace, but behind the shiny marble buildings and crowded streets the city appeared to be dirty, dangerous and in disrepair. It seemed to me that even Oz's most powerful city had been affected by the great drought or maybe I was just revisiting a place that had caused me such childhood joy with mature eyes that had seen so much grief.

I asked a vendor at the market, which was much smaller than I remembered, where the so called saviour was staying. With a grunt he pointed at a nearby inn with a huge crowd of tatty looking Ozians outside. Were they all waiting for him?

 _The fools,_ I thought, did they truly think that a man who was believed to be sent by Lurline herself would listen to their pathetic attempts at begging? If this man was truly a saviour – or a powerful wizard at least – he'd be able to cast spells to save the whole of Oz. Then maybe, just maybe, he'd realise how powerful at magic I'd become and I could stand beside him ready to pull Oz out of the Dark Ages of drought, Animals and such little influence on the neighbouring countries and into a new, golden age where Oz was thriving and powerful and had reclaimed the countries that the Animals had so cruelly forced the Ozma to give away.

I knew it, I just knew it now, I would stand by this wizard and the crowds would be cheering us on, even Rina although she'd barely manage to hide her jealously, when she realised that her little sister was so much more powerful than her. I would make father's spirit proud and I would avenge Notta's. I did not want to be associated with the hopeless beggars crowding outside the inn so I resolved to come back later when I would be noticed.

After the sun set I watched from a distance, practically invisible despite wearing my best dress and all my makeup, waiting for the innkeeper to dismiss the last hopeless hopefuls and waiting for my chance to strike.

Finally my moment came; I entered the inn from the back door, using a simple spell on the lock, crept up the dirty staircase. The 'saviour's' door was easy to identify, being practically covered with gifts and flowers. I undid the lock with surprising ease for the room of someone so powerful and turned the handle.

"No, no! I said no visitors after hours please! I need to… gain my footing in this place, I _told_ you!" He turned round and stared at me, "how did you open the door?"

I shrugged, "Simple spell, nothing like the ones I expect you can perform." I started to walk inside, relieved it appeared that I could finally talk to the man I had been hearing so much about.

"Mind if you grab a few presents?" he asked, as I moved to close the door. I did as I was bidden and approached him trying to avoid all the gifts and wrapping paper already strewn on the floor around me. He was a portly man of about my age, although his sandy hair was already balding, he wore the strangest collection of clothes that I had ever seen, even when an Ixian ambassador had visited Shiz and I wondered exactly where he could have come from.

He motioned for me to sit down his eyes lighting up greedily as he examined a green silk tie he had just unwrapped.

"So, this magic thing? It's real? Not trickery?"

I stared at him in shock for a second, until I realised that this must be a test, "Yes, of course, and I happen to be becoming quite powerful."

"So wait… really? So what can you do?"

"Oh lots, my speciality's weather, but I'm getting quite good and controlling fire and colour changing spells too." I said quickly.

"Show me."

I clicked my fingers carelessly and a fire sprung up in the empty fireplace.

"Goodness grief! How did you do that?"

"It was easy…" I lied, that spell had taken me months of practice, but then I paused, "but wait surely you could do a spell like that in your sleep."

"Well… erm…" he visibly deflated, "if you can keep a keep a secret Miss… Mrs?"

"It's Madame," I decided suddenly, I had been Miss long enough.

"Well Madame, truth be told, where I come from there's no such thing as magic, well at least as far as I know, I didn't even realise that this place existed never mind that magic…"

But the disappointment was already starting to sink in, clinging desperately to my last hope I stuttered, "But… but… the balloon – I saw it – it was floating…"

"The balloon's just technology, not magic," he said simply, "I made it myself, based on others I'd seen of course, but I've designed other things on my own – if I may say so I'm a rather talented inventor."

"But it said Oz!"

"Coincidence," he confessed, "It's my name, Oscar Zoroaster Diggs, I wanted to paint my initials but I ran out of space and yellow fabric paint for the D."

And once again I found that if you trusted or believed in someone they would only leave you or let you down, "So you're not a powerful wizard?"

"Well… no."

"You don't even know any magic?"

"You could say that…"

"Yet you have been allowing the Ozians to believe that you're going to save them from this terrible drought and famine and allowing them to give what little they have left to you so you can promise them a better life that you cannot offer?" I tried hard to keep the jealously out of my voice, this man had far less power than my own, yet who was being noticed, worshiped even? It was just my luck to be born in Oz rather than to arrive in a balloon.

"You don't understand!" He burst out, "There I am at home, simple, plain, foolish Oscar Diggs, and then on my balloon's test flight I get carried away by a strange gale and get transported to this mysterious undiscovered land and suddenly everyone is declaring me some sort of saviour and showering me with praise and expensive presents! What's a man expected to do? In Kansas I've never got that sort of attention."

"What's Kansas?" I asked.

He looked genuinely shocked, "Kansas? Only the State I live in, in America," he added as I continued to look bewildered, "surely you know that?"

"I've never heard of it."

"But… How can't you have?"

"You've never heard of Oz."

"Yes… but…" he seemed to give up and got something out from his pocket, "here, a photograph of me outside my house."

"A photograph?"

"You don't know what a photograph is?" he recovered quickly under my glare, "it's like a picture but more real."

I nodded and took the 'photograph' from his hands, it was in black and white and was a picture of grassy hills dotted with farms, in front of what appeared to be his house was the man wearing a cheesy grin, it had been clearly taken in early evening as the stars were just starting to appear in the sky. Something about the landscape reminded me of home yet something else seemed quite different from anywhere in Oz. Suddenly, I realised what it was, the stars were different, the stars that I had always been taught remained the same no matter where in Oz, where in the world, you went. Was then this man from another world? Was my simple spellbook that I had read so many years ago correct?

"So I guess I'll just try and go back then," he mumbled head hanging, bringing me back into reality, "you say you specialise in control of the weather, do you think you could blow me back?"

I didn't know, but I didn't really care if this failure made it back at the moment, my anger was mounting towards him. How dare he take what might be my last chance to help Oz and make myself important?

Or had he? Suddenly I realised that maybe all hope was not lost. After all, he did not have magic, but I had. I did not have the popularity to make my power noticed, but he did…

"Sir, Oscar, how would you like to be wonderful?" I asked, using a phrase I had heard one of the beggars refer to him as.

"Wonderful?"

"Why yes, with my power and your reputation, we could sort out this drought and rule Oz!"

"Rule Oz?" he said doubtfully, "I'm not sure I could really do that, it would involve a lot of work wouldn't it? And it there not a president?"

Deciding that 'president' must be what the other world called their Ozmas I waved his worries away, "Oh I'll sort all that out, and the work will be nothing. Just think, hundreds – thousands – of people obeying your every command, you will be the ruler of the most powerful land in this world! You will have armies, acres of land, and unbelievable riches at your dispense!"

I saw his greedy eyes light up once again and I knew I had won. I was finally on my way to success!

"Good, well, I suggest you appoint me as your chief adviser," I paused to let him nod, "Well, you already have half the country under your spell, all we need to do is convince them that you are the right man to pull them out of the drought and much better than those silly Ozmas."

But what would convince them to encourage the change? The Ozmas had been ruling for centuries. We needed a way to show the Ozians that we were doing more than the Ozma to help them out of the drought and the resultant famine. I thought about how angry they had all had become, how everyone from the Winkies to the Quadlings were being blamed for causing the drought. Surely if we told these simple people who was to blame and then rain came – as if by magic – they would believe us, trust us to save them above the Ozmas, then we could do it, ruling Oz and making it powerful again was in our reach!

Now we just needed someone – a group maybe – to blame. The Ozmas would be the obvious choice, but the people would probably still be too fond of their rulers and anyway we'd probably end up executed for treason. So I needed another group to shoulder the blame. An image of Notta's small mangled body popped up, once again, in my head and I knew exactly what it would be…


	19. Plotting and Scheming

_Year 1272 – during the faboulocious rule of our Infant 39_ _th_ _Ozma, under the wise guidance of her father, Pastoria_

"Can't you shut that thing up?"

Oscar mumbled his apology and turned to the gibbering monkey, "Shhh, Chistery, can't you see she's trying to work?" the annoying furball ignored him as usual.

"Honestly Oscar, I don't see why you keep him," the monkey had been one of his more useless gifts from our rapidly increasing number of fans.

"He's cute," Oscar murmured.

I rolled my eyes, "Cute does not pay the rent for this office and apartment in the centre of Ozma Town." After a year or so of travelling around the country, staying of the houses of people who seemed convinced that they were housing the male form of Lurline, I decided that we need a more permanent residence and I knew full well that if we were one day going to be important in Oz it could not be shabby.

The sound of mail coming through the letter box, distracted my from my thoughts, "you get it, I'm busy," I told Oscar.

"Yes Madame," he replied, "what are you writing anyway?"

"A letter to the Governor of Munchkinland, telling him that you were delighted to receive his invitation and that you would be ever so pleased to reside with him and his wife and spread your wisdom to all the fine Munchkinlanders."

He sighed, "Another visit?"

"Nonsense, we've only visited the outskirts of Munchkinland so far, there are still hundreds, thousands of potential converts. It shouldn't be too hard either, just a few well placed words – I'll write the speeches if you're too stupid to – and you'll sweep them off their feet, munchkins are so small minded."

"But is it actually worth anything?" he moaned.

I sighed, sometimes I wondered if there was not an easier way to gain power than working with this dim-witted man, "Ozma Town wasn't built in a day, sometimes I think you don't want to be wonderful at all."

"No, no, I do!"

"Are you sure? Maybe you'd prefer to be 'your average Joe' as you say?"

"Yes, Madame, I'm sure," he insisted

"Well then start helping the cause more, stop complaining and get the mail." He nodded and plodded off, like an obedient lap dog, placing the mail in front of me when he returned.

I sifted through the letters idly.

"Anything interesting?"

"A Gillikinese family are writing to you worried about the rumoured future invasion from Fliaan that Pastoria seems to be doing nothing about… the Uplands of the Upper Uplands wish to announce in large curly pink lettering that they are expecting their first child… a couple of nobodies of high status have got married… the King and Queen of the Vinkus invite us to some Winkie ritual to celebrate the birth of their firstborn son and heir…"

"Are we going?"

I considered for a second, "No, probably not, the Winkies seemed pretty convinced by us when we visited last year, and anyway they never really get involved much in the politics of the rest of Oz, so they're not likely to protest if the Ozma gets overthrown. I suppose the only risk is if this Prince becomes betrothed to the Ozma."

The 38th Ozma had given birth to a daughter in the summer of this year and less than a month later had died. It had officially been caused by a postnatal illness, although most of Oz believed it may have had something to do with the rat poison her husband, Pastoria's, most loyal servants were said to have placed in her meals. However, the fact that Ozians did not trust Pastoria, who was now ruling in place of his infant daughter, only strengthened their support for us.

I tossed the letters that I had already sifted through to the side of my desk to be sorted later, "Let's see what other rubbish we have here."

But I didn't really view them as rubbish, even now hearing all the gossip before it reached the general public and being invited to the most talked about celebrations meant a lot to the girl whose family's status forced them to sit at the back of the chapel at her own sister's wedding. There was no doubt that I had finally moved up in the world and it pleased me no end.

For the last few years Oscar and I had been travelling around Oz. In every town we visited he would read out a speech that I had written informing that the Animals were causing the Great Drought and the resultant famines and if they were driven out Lurline would reward them with rain. The villagers, normally desperate and starving, would waste no time in obeying his – _my_ – every word and within days they would be rewarded with the rain that I conjured and claimed Lurline sent. It was exhausting work, even now large weather spells took a lot out of me and Oscar always had to be monitored to make sure he did not mess up our chance of power, but it was worth it to see our reputation rapidly grow from village to village until all of Oz knew about us and to know I was finally helping Oz by getting rid of the Animal scum that had troubled our fair country for so long.

Now all we needed was to complete the final step, to get rid of the useless Ozma and her corrupt father and seize power for ourselves and the good of Oz. The only question was how…

And then suddenly the answer was in my hands, the last envelope on the pile of letter that I had been sifting through was a fine ivory colour with the Ozma's red seal, I eagerly slipped it open and read the contents.

I did not scream, that would be far too undignified, but I did allow a small smile to creep up my face, "We've been invited to court."

"What?"

"For a day, in spring, so you can enlighten the noblemen and Pastoria himself on your views of how to solve the great drought."

"Spring? That's only a few months away."

"I know," I snapped and looked at the date again, "We can probably just about still fit in your visit to Munchkinland, although we might have to shorten it by a couple of days, and… oh there's so much to prepare for, you'll have to visit the Governor on your own," I decided.

"What?"

"You can cope," I told him, "I'll write you a couple of speeches and you'll be fine as long as you keep your wits about you – and that means no monkey and none of that green potion."

A month or two back I had found a recipe for a potion to weaken the mind and make a person easier to control in one of the old books Mombi had given me, however, I had never been very good at potions and the recipe was not one of the best either and the potion was far too weak only resulting in the drinker feeling lightheaded for a while and becoming slightly more suggestible. I had discarded the potion as a failure but Oscar had become quite taken to it, apparently enjoying the feeling he experienced when he took it. I didn't try it, I did not like the idea of not being in complete control of myself.

"What's wrong with the green elixir?"

"It's a hindrance so we don't need it," I told him simply, hoping he would take my advice and not ruin our chances in influencing the Governor and his wife.

I ignored his whining and focused on more important matters; this visit to court would be my one chance to get rid of Pastoria and the baby Ozma, but I also knew full well that we wouldn't get a chance to be any closer than in the same room as him on our visit to court. I needed a way of disposing of him and his daughter without any of the blame landing on Oscar or me, I needed a way of getting closer to him than I was allowed, and I had a feeling that I knew just how…


	20. To Dispose of an Ozma

_Year 1273 – during the faboulocious rule of our Infant 39_ _th_ _Ozma, under the wise guidance of her father, Pastoria_

Don't get me wrong, I still had a conscience – it was battered and badly bruised but it was not yet quite broken, but I also knew that sacrifices had to be made for the greater good and the rest of Oz. Pastoria was clearly already corrupt and appeared to be an incompetent ruler, he was still living in luxury ignoring the effects of the drought on the population of Oz and the ever growing rumours of an invasion from Fliaan. If he kept going this way there would not be an Oz for his daughter to rule and even if there was, wasn't it most likely that she would grow up just as hopeless as her parents and grandparents? No, Oz needed a proper, competent, powerful ruler, which could bring them a better future – in short – me.

The day of our visit finally came. I had been preparing everything for weeks, Oscar had returned from Munchkinland a few days prior he had looked oddly guilty but had assured me everything had gone to plan and judging by the frequent letters we were now receiving from the munchkins he was, for once, right. Of course with his arrival I had to once again make sure that he was ready and that the most crucial stage in our operation was going to go smoothly.

We had been invited to court for the whole day but Oscar was only scheduled to make his speech around noon. This gave me the perfect time to search for what I was looking for.

I looked around the white marble room of the palace, the high painted ceilings showing it was truly the grandest place in Oz, it was the home of only the wealthiest. My gaze flickered over the silk covered tables, gold plates stacked high food, while the rest of Oz still starved. My eyes skimmed through the fine dresses and jewellery which made my own, which had been bought especially for the occasion, seem horribly plain any item of clothing these people were wearing could feed a poor Ozian family, even now, for years. I looked over every carefully made up face, still quietly searching, praying to anything I still believed in, that she was there.

Yet it was her that found me.

"Delva?"

I turned, looking at the woman sitting alone on a bench by the wall. It took me a moment to recognise her. Her hair, the golden curls that I had once envied so much, now lay lankily around her face, and were thin and streaked with grey. I had heard she now had had several children and it showed, the waist that had once fitted the slimmest of dresses was now pushing most unattractively against her, rather tatty, silk gown. Her face was made up, as usual, impeccably but it failed to hide pale face of the woman who had become old before her time.

"Del!"

Perhaps it was the name that shook me, I had not heard anyone call me that for years, I was always Madame to my acquaintances nowadays; Delva had never been the same since Notta had died. Or perhaps it was her voice, one I had not heard in twenty years, her voice that had weakened somewhat from the confident cries that I remembered and she had clearly tried to pick up the accent of the court, but was still unmistakably hers. But suddenly I knew that was not it either, it was the first time I could remember her ever saying my name without mocking me or with any sarcasm. It looked like that I was not the only one who had changed.

"Lady Bon Dalus," I nodded curtly.

She looked at me expectantly, but I remained silent, refusing to be the first to speak to ask for any information. Delva would have cracked, Madame Morrible stood quiet.

"I haven't seen you for a long time," she said finally.

I raised my eyebrows, "Yes, it has been a while hasn't it? I would have expected to have seen you at your sister's funeral, such a pity you could not atten…"

A look of sadness that I had not expected to see crossed her face, "Del, I couldn't, my reputation was already falling apart and Phearse…"

"Oh of course, your reputation," I fought to keep the anger out of my voice, I was in control and would remain that way, I would refuse to show emotion.

"You don't understand! You don't know what it's like here!" her voice was becoming desperate, I relished it, never in my life had I had the upper hand against Starina, "They won't accept me, I'm not like them, they're all meant to be here, they all know how to act and I'm just common! And look at me Del, I've grown horrible, I'm as ugly as you! Not even Phearse cares for me anymore, you should see all his young, pretty mistresses! I'm useless, three daughters I've had. Three daughters, that I'm not even allowed to see, and not a single son!" she sighed wearily, "Now I know how Papa felt."

Something, somewhere deep inside of me, felt pity for my sister, who had once been so strong. The rest of me was filled with pleasure at how easy my task was turning out to be.

"And your clothes," I wrinkled my nose, "they look foul, how many seasons old are they?"

"They're at least _three years_ old," Rina was almost hysterical, "Phearse won't buy me any new ones, he says he doesn't want to waste his money on me."

"Oh how cruel," I let a drop of faked emotion into my voice, "you could do with a wig as well, your hair is hideodeous!"

"I know, I know," she sobbed, "but I can't! I don't have the money!"

"I do," I said quietly.

She looked up and I almost gasped in surprise at how dim those bright blue eyes had become, "What?"

"You'll be surprised at how much money, the Wonderful Wizard and I have made helping Oz."

"Helping Oz?" I'd seen her suck up to people to get her own way so many times, but never to me, she had finally realised how important I had become, how she had been wrong to taunt me as a little girl, "You don't think you could spare a few pennies to help your own sister?"

I pretended to consider, "Well I don't know Rina, I'm sure you'd look just as beautiful as you used to with a couple of new dresses and a wig, because trust me you need them, but I really don't know if I could dip into our funds for you, they're so important to us…"

"Oh please Del, I'll do anything…"

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"Well I suppose, if you do this small favour for me…"

"I'll do it."

I smiled, sweet success, "You live next to the Pastoria and the Ozma's quarters don't you? Past the guards?"

"Yes," she replied, still eager, I took that as a good sign.

"I want you to put Pastoria and his daughter to sleep, permanently."

"You want me to kill them?"

"I prefer to think of it as giving the Ozians a better future."

For the first time she looked uncertain, "Oh, no Del, I can't!"

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you're free from blame," I said carefully, "and I'll make sure you'll still have a good life under the Wizard – maybe a better one than you have now – and otherwise, well Lurline Rina, have you looked at yourself in the mirror recently? How can you even stand getting up each day?"

But I had convinced her with the idea of a better life, "if you're sure…"

"I am, it's for the greater good Rina."

She bit her lip, then said quickly, "OK, when?"

"Two week's time," I did not want it to happen too soon after our visit, "meet me next to the well near the East Gate to receive your reward."

She nodded once as I returned to mingle with the crowd, eagerly anticipating Oscar's speech, now our final step of the plan had been put in place.

* * *

She arrived as appointed, I had wondered whether it was worthwhile to pay her off, but ultimately I decided that without her pretty clothes Starina might turn back to the Ozma's Court and betray me, and even if she didn't it would be better for the future ruler of Oz to not make enemies of the people who had known her so well.

"You've done it?"

"He's dead," she whispered stammering slightly, "you have my clothes and wig?"

I nodded, handing her the package, she took each item out and inspected them. They were nothing like as fancy as the clothes that we had worn to her wedding so long ago but the Starina that would have cared had long gone. For the broken woman in front of me these were the finest items she had possessed in a long time.

"Thank you," she said, almost silently.

"You did as you were instructed," I replied indifferently, "I just kept up my end of the deal." I turned to go

"Del wait!" she called, almost panicked.

"Yes?" she put a small but surprisingly heavy bundle in my arms. "What is it…" the moonlight fell on the sleeping Ozma and my voice turned sharp, "I thought I told you to kill it?"

"I couldn't."

"What do you mean? All you needed to do was get a pillow and…"

She sighed softly, "Del, you've never been a mother have you? I could kill Pastoria, he let me slowly wither and die, he laughed at the farm girl's fall from glory along with the rest of the court, but, no matter what this girl will grow into, she's innocent now. Oh I'm no Ket!" she almost laughed at the expression of shock that had slipped past my stony features "but, however well it's hidden, I do have a heart and I love my children. I could never kill a baby, not now – you take her – then her blood's not on my hands."

I scowled, frustrated at the extra complication, but I granted the one small mercy towards my sister. I settled the ruler of Oz into my arms and slipped into the darkness.

"Goodbye," Starina said, quietly, kindly.

I did not reply.

* * *

"So now we're stuck with this," I said, finishing recounting the meeting to Oscar and showing him the infant weighing down my arms, it chose that moment to wake up and start screaming. I scowled, I had forgotten how much I hated small whiney children, "shut up you!" The arrogant child ignored me.

"Give her here," Oscar said, holding out his arms, I dumped it in them, relieved, "there, there, shush you, there's nothing to worry about," in seconds the Ozma was smiling in his arms, "look, isn't she sweet?"

I glanced over at the child, "Just looks like a snotty baby to me. Don't get to fond of her, we have to get rid of her."

"To kill her?" he asked, shocked.

"Unless you want a threat to your throne," I snapped.

"I don't care." He said firmly, "We're not hurting her."

"Well what are you intending to do with her?" I asked frustrated but, if I was honest, I was afraid that the young innocent Delva who wouldn't hurt a fly was still hiding somewhere inside of me and would stop me from hurting this innocent child too. It was one thing to tell Rina to kill her, it was a completely different thing to do it myself.

He shrugged, but looked at me hopefully.

"Well we're not keeping it if that's what you want."

He visibly deflated, "Well can't we give her to an orphanage or something?"

"No," I said simply, "now she's missing they'll be sending search parties everywhere to find her and the orphanages will be the first place they look. We need someone to look after her who would want to look after the Ozma, despite the treason involved, and would be able to make sure she's not found and I doubt such a person exists…" I paused, because I _did_ know someone who wanted an Ozma, who would have sufficient magic to hide her and, as an added bonus, could give us – me – something in return.

* * *

It was a few nights later that Oscar and I knocked on Mombi's door. She took a while to get down, and answered in her nightgown, clearly having been asleep.

She blinked a few times to get sleep out of her eyes before she recognised me, "You!"

"Me."

"You left me girl, against my orders."

"I did," I said indifferently.

"What are you doing here now? Don't expect me to give your job back."

"I wouldn't want it. No, what I want is the Grimmerie."

She let out a cackle, "The Grimmerie? Why would I give it to you treacherous girl?"

I showed her the bundle in my arms, "Because I can give you an Ozma."


	21. A New Threat

Chapter 21: A New Threat

_Year 1275 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

We arrived back at Ozma Town just as the news of Pastoria's death the Ozma's disappearance had leaked out the palace. We had not wanted to arrive too early in case it alerted the suspicion that we were involved in this treason.

As it was Ozma Town was not how we left it. If, as a teenager, I had thought Shiz had become tense as a result of the rumours I had spread about Kalidah it was nothing compared to this – as far as most of the Ozian citizens were concerned this traitor could be any one of them and could be anywhere. Someone seemed to be trying to take down Oz from the inside and they did not like it, someone was a spy and they wanted their revenge as soon as they could.

On the other hand I heard the Ozma's court had taken a completely different approach. Now the ruling family appeared to be gone, leaving no apparent heirs, every one of the noblemen seemed to think Lurline wanted them to rule Oz. However, none of the nobles seemed in agreement of _which_ of them were Lurline sent which was leading to an awful lot of backstabbing (especially of the literal sort) throughout the aristocracy. I decided I'd leave them to it for the moment, every potential ruler killed was one few competitor for my position and I knew it would be more important to win over the people than try and convince a few old toffs that Lurline had not got rid of the dynasty of the Ozmas especially so that they could gain power.

As soon as we entered the gates of Ozma town, hundreds of worried Ozians flocked towards us. Even now, after several years of Oscar's growing popularity, it still shocked me to have so many people depending on – Oz, practically worshipping – us! I was glad I had made sure we had hired an expensive carriage and worn our fanciest clothes for our return to the city.

Our solution to who was responsible for the murder and disappearance was simple, it was clearly a plot by the Animals and had been carried out by a Buffalo who had been one of the Ozma's chief advisors, and if the kind Ozians would let us we would like to help Oz in this time of need and be put in charge of Oz and sort out this dreadfulifyed problem.

It was not so much of a takeover but a simple transfer of power, already we had such a majority of the commoners and the residents of Ozma Town, that really none of the nobles stood a chance, even those who had been fighting viciously for power quickly quietened down when we gave them a large sum of money and seemed pretty mollified by the idea of cheap Animal labour – greed, it appeared, overtook a human's need for anything else. Before we had time to really digest it Oscar was not just a Wonderful Wizard but the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

* * *

But I did not get much time to revel in our success and to be able to change Oz for the better. Early the following year our spies (there were fewer now I had got rid of all the Birds but there was still quite an adequate amount) reported that the new ruler in Oz had only made Fliaan more confident that they could take over Oz. They were planning to invade within the next few months.

Oz's army had not been the strongest in a long time but had been capable of holding off invaders until the drought had struck. Now many of its members had returned home to help their families grow as much food as they could from the bone dry land and those that were still left were suffering from the food and water shortages as much as the rest of Oz. We needed to improve our army, and fast.

I spent a large amount of time in those months moving around Oz summoning rain, the drought was finally easing off but Oz still needed much more rain than it was getting, and fast. While before I had only used my powers to reward those towns that had got rid of their Animals, now I simply could not afford to hold water from any town with strong, able men, the fate of Oz and everything that I had ever known was lying in my hands.

We offered extra food rations to those who joined the army and their families and soon we were getting applicants by the thousand. We placed them in the South, by the Quadling Kells, where they would be at the best advantage to attack and then attempted to train them. But, although there was improvement, the years of drought had cursed us and most were still painfully thin and not fully competent with using their weapons when the heavily armed, well organised soldiers of Fliaan started to arrive.

We stationed ourselves in the largest gap between two cliff-like mountains, confident that this was the only easy way to pass into the rest of Oz. As I watched the soldiers from Fliaan march towards us – from my vantage point behind our men – I studied the situation hoping desperately to find some way for us to win, but it seemed impossible. Although the men from Fliaan had been travelling for days they were still undoubtedly stronger than the underfed rabble from Oz.

The Fliaans reached us just after noon, their unbreakable ranks cut easily through ours, only the sheer number of Ozian soldiers prevented them from victory before twilight.

That night I looked sorrowfully at the camp of wounded men, so many lives had been lost, and still Oz could be gone by next sunset. I felt angry with myself, for all I had done to try and help Oz to become more powerful, I couldn't do anything to save it when we really needed it.

It was a pity, I thought, that we could not get our men to the top of the mountains. With that amount of height we'd surely be at a significant advantage. But the Quadling Kells were incredibly steep and treacherous, they were covered in hundreds – maybe thousands – of huge loose boulders, even the commotion of the battle earlier had knocked several down – with fatal results to both sides.

There must be something I could do, I couldn't let Oz be lost, not after everything. The Ozmas had done a bad enough job ruling but I was not letting Oz be invaded while I – well Oscar and I – were in charge. I turned to the Grimmerie, which I now always carried around with me, and flicked through the pages looking for something, anything to help me. As usual I ended up on the weather pages – they contained some of the few spells I could just about decipher from the ancient text, a certain one caught my eye. It was a much more powerful spell than I had ever cast, in fact something of that size could probably have negative impacts on my own health, but for Oz I would do anything.

Before the sun rose the following morning I ordered the soldiers to leave the clearing and return further inland into Quadling Country. There were a couple of protests but saying I was just repeating what was told to me by the Wonderful Wizard soon shut them up. I stayed with a small group of soldiers to guard me just by the entrance to the clearing with the Grimmerie, camouflaged by the bushes around me, waiting for the Fliaans to arise.

When they did they were undoubtedly shocked that all the Ozians had left and were therefore unmistakably cautious as they entered the pass. Once I was sure all the Fliaan soldiers were between the two mountains I began chanting a spell from the Grimmerie, more determination and passion in my voice than ever before.

It was so sudden that it took me a second to notice it, the entire ground in the clearing was shaking, I watched dizzily as the boulders, set free by my earthquake, took out rows of men at a time, until the energy was completely worn out of me and I let the darkness overcome me.

* * *

Still exhausted I forced my eyes open and assessed my surroundings, I was indoors, it was light and I appeared to still be in Oz – well so far so good.

"Oh you're awake?"

It took a lot of effort to turn my head to look at the nurse, "It appears so."

"That's very good – we were afraid we'd lost you for a while – you've been out nearly a week."

_Lost,_ that triggered an important question, "Oz, Fliaan?"

"Oh we defeated them deary, that earthquake the Wizard summoned killed most of the invaders and our soldiers slaughtered the rest. Oz is safe."

Oz is safe, what beautiful words, but what was even better was that it had been me who had singlehandedly saved my homeland! Me, weak, plain, little Delva had held off an invasion – if it was not for me Oz would be no more, but it wasn't, now it was safe!

Papa would have been so proud!


	22. Changes

_Year 1276 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

Nothing ever really lasts, not even euphoria at knowing that you have singlehandedly saved your country. No matter if your sister has been murdered or you have done what no one believed that you could ever do, life goes on and presents you even more challenges to overcome.

No one tried to invade Oz after Fliaan, as far as the other countries were concerned, Oscar had proved himself a powerful ruler and someone not to be messed with. As far as the Ozians were concerned their Wizard had just become even more wonderful and had saved them all, their hero worship grew to an even greater extent and even fewer people questioned his – and ultimately my – changes. As far as I was concerned Oz had a very long way to go. Yes I had got rid of Fliaan and any other imminent threat, but Oz was, by no means, great and powerful. We had been weakened by our battle with Fliaan, we were only just recovering from the great drought and those murderous Animals were still occupying far too many prominent positions. Oz needed improvement, and fast.

The first step, of course, was getting Oz back onto its feet, it needed to be the most dominant of nations, ahead in both wealth and technology, and, of course, we needed to be the most supreme in military, magic and unity if we were to one day claim back the lands that the Ozmas had lost us.

Unfortunately none of these came easily to a country recovering from a great drought and famine. It looked like we might need to take very small steps.

Ridding Oz of the Animals was the first step of, course, but even that required precision, even the Wonderful Wizard might be questioned if steps were made too hastily. Ultimately we wanted those horrible creatures who had the brains to obey orders to work on the farm to pay off their debt to Oz – closely monitored of course, we didn't want any more Nottas – and the others… well Oscar had told me that in the Other World they had these delightful things called 'zoos'.

In fact Oscar had a surprising number of good suggestions; apparently his world was much more technologically advanced and, however useless as he was at thinking for himself, he was very good at making and inventing machinery, he told me about 'railways' – a sort of fast mechanical carriage that ran on tracks that would significantly speed up travel around Oz and said he'd try to make a 'camera' – the apparatus used to take photographs. I liked the idea of a modernised Oz – it would make it appear so much more powerful.

But we also wanted a way to show that Oz was in a faboulocious new era, it needed to be new and spectacular, just as they believed their Wonderful Wizard to be. We needed to sweep any signs of the Ozmas away.

Staring, of course, with Ozma Town. We could not have our Capitol City as a constant reminder of the rulers that were gone, yet I was reluctant to get rid of it completely, Ozma town was in the centre of Oz and every trade route from the four provinces. It also seemed a waste to lose what was left of the great days of Oz when, centuries ago, Oz had thrived. But at the same time it could not be left as a reminder of the Ozmas. We needed it to celebrate the wonderful rule of the Wizard.

"We need to make it new," I told Oscar, "bright, colourful…"

"Green," he said suddenly.

"What?"

"We should make it green," he stated, "we could paint it or something, it symbolises rebirth and growth, and I like green. We could even call it Green Town!"

I looked at him sceptically, half because I had a feeling that the only reason he liked green was because it was the colour of that potion that he insisted on drinking, "Green Town? That doesn't sound very impressive, hardly the start of a faboulocious rule."

"We could use another word," he said defensively, "there are lots of words for green, like olive and jade and…"

"Emerald?"

"Yeah, Emerald, I like that Madame, 'The Emerald Town'"

"Emerald Town?" I asked, the name was undoubtedly an improvement but something still didn't sound quite right about it, "don't you think it still sounds a bit too much like Ozma Town?"

"A little," he admitted sadly, then perked up, "how about the Emerald _City_?"

Now _that_ sounded new and sophisticated, "That's not bad."

He beamed, pleased that he'd actually had a good idea, (and, believe me, I was as surprised as him,) "We should do something about the roads too," he said quickly, taking advantage of this novel situation, "I don't think a single one's paved outside Ozm-The Emerald City, there are hardly any dirt roads in Kansas."

"So what, we pave them all with bricks?"

"Exactly!" he exclaimed, "and they could be made of gold to show Oz's wealth!"

"Yes," I replied, "wealth that Oz doesn't actually have," I considered, "painting them yellow might have a similar effect though."

He grinned, "The yellow brick road! I like the sound of that."

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, and I'm sure the Munchkins will make up some annoying song about it in no time, you'll be eating your words soon enough Oscar."

"But you'll do it? You like the idea?"

I sighed, "Yes, we'll do it, and the idea's quite good… for you. Lurline, I don't understand what the Ozians see in a pathetic looking man like you."

But instead of looking annoyingly dejected like he normally did when I insulted him he looked thoughtful, "Yes, I've been thinking about that and I'm not growing any younger – not a good look for an eternal ruler, what do you think Madame, if I made myself look a lot more powerful?"

I snorted, "I'd think you'd need to change your appearance completely. I've done my best to make you look impressive, but I don't think it's possible to make you appear more powerful unless you completely redefine yourself…"

"That's exactly what I was thinking! What if I created a new persona for myself – a giant head – I think I know enough about mechanics to make that, then when someone comes to tell me their problems they'll be even more astounded by me!"

His vanity and desire for power was paying off, although I was loath to admit it, there would be no better way to fool the simple minded Ozians into believing his every word than this, "For once you're right we should do that," I told him simply, "any more ideas?"

"Well…" he said slowly, confidence clearly growing from his ideas being accepted, "maybe something to celebrate my arrival."

Now that was an idea, "A celebration instead of some of the Lurline feast days?"

"I was more thinking a musical… but that would work."

Lurlinism was another issue I believed we had to deal with though, the whole claim that the Ozmas made to rule was that they were descended from Lurline, if we wanted the continued support from the Ozians we could no longer have them believe that the Ozmas were those intended to rule.

"What Gods does your world believe in?" I asked Oscar.

"Oh in Kansas we only have one God," he replied.

Similar to Lurlinism then, only without Kumbricia, "What do you call her?"

"Him," he corrected automatically, "and he doesn't really have a name."

An Unnamed God, it sounded like just what Oz needed at the moment. If the Ozians insisted on worshipping a deity (the existence of which I now believed in even less than at the time of Notta's death) it may as well be one with, as far as I could tell, no shaped personality so we could show that he agreed with whatever we wanted at the present time.

"Yes, yes, we could adopt your Unnamed God, it would certainly make the citizens easier to influence if they believe their God is on our side…"

And suddenly it seemed possible, we were helping Oz recover, we would be able to recover from the disastrous reign of the Ozmas.

Yes Oz was going uphill, but I also recognised that to make the final step we needed more than just modernisation, we still needed a stronger military, unity among the people and most importantly magic and much more of it than I could conjure. It was all very well holding back Fliaan, a nation built mostly on its military, but to actually claim back the countries surrounding Oz, especially such nations as Ix and Ev – which had very many more sorcerers than Oz we would need someone with supreme talent – who could easily read the Grimmerie. Unfortunately, finding such a person would be hard – there were clearly no adults with this talent – otherwise they would have challenged the Wizards claims. So we would have to search the younger generation, and where better to try and find talent than at Dear Old Shiz?

It took only days to install me as headmistress to the old university and for years I ruled Oz from my letters to Oscar as I watched hundreds of children arrive and leave the fine establishment hoping, praying that this prodigy would arrive. So for those many years I waited and waited and waited and waited…


	23. Paperwork

**Part 4**

_Year 1291 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

I shuffled through yet more letters, no matter how many years I had done this, no matter what had happened to Oz in the meantime, this job was always just as tedious.

And Oz had changed, 18 years of the Wizard's rule had made sure of that, Oz had improved by far since my childhood: railroads and proper trade routes had been established all around Oz, the Wizard's army or the Gale Force (named after his so called power over the elements) was slowly but surely getting stronger and of course those horrendable Animals were being sorted out. Little by little Oz was changing for the better.

Not that it hadn't been without its hardships – the Animals seemed oddly resistant to my attempts to remove them important positions for Oz's own good – in fact even my own dear Shiz still had one filthy Animal professor who had refused to take the hint and leave despite being given nearly no pay or leave now – and even the people's faith in the Wizard could be wavered in hard times. Keeping their spirits up while recovering from the great drought in the early years of his reign and later during the hard winter of 1284 had been difficult to say the least.

Both Ketzal and Starina had passed away that winter, within days of each other. Ketzal, who had been like a mother to me in the early years of my life, who, whether she had succeeded or not, had always tried to do what was best. Starina, the tormentor of my childhood years, who, I imagine, greeted death with open arms from her miserable mansion somewhere in the Gillikin. The funerals were on the same date, probably deliberately knowing Rina's in-law's dislike for us. I went to Starina's, it was better for my image. Phearse remarried two weeks later – his new bride was the daughter of some wealthy nobleman less than half his age.

I examined a bright pink envelope that, as I opened it, some vile floral scent wafted out. I was greeted by the typical application form and an extra essay – on pink parchment no less – _magic wands need they have a point?_ Clearly said applicant wanted to join my sorcery seminar, the essay went into the bin without a second glance. Yes I did run my sorcery seminar every once in a while to see if I had missed any talent but, from my experience, if any student had talent it would show itself in everyday life. I'd taken a couple of students under my wing during my years of teaching hoping that I could train their kindling magical talent to something that would be useful to the Wizard but, although I found I was remarkably good at encouraging talent, unfortunately the pupils just were far too talentless.

I looked at the application from the pink envelope again, the grades weren't bad and it wouldn't hurt to have an Upland at Shiz, being on good terms with such an influential family in the Gillikin never hurt… I assigned her a private room as the letter (and money sent) had demanded, scribbled her name on the acceptance register and moved onto the next form…

Several forms later I picked up a letter marked with the seal of the Governor of Munchkinland. In it he informed me that his daughter, Nessarose Thropp, wanted to go to Shiz and, although she was a year or so younger than the typical age of students accepted at Shiz, he thought she was perfectly capable of fitting in with the other students and by far clever enough to keep up with lessons. Normally with such letters I ignored the doting parent rant and replied that Shiz would only accept people of the appropriate age. However, this Nessarose was the Governor's daughter and it was always good to get the rulers of Oz's provinces on my side to make sure no one challenged the Wizard's rule. Not that we couldn't crush any rebellions easily with the ever growing Gale Force but it might have set me back on my ultimate aim of uniting Oz so we could reclaim the lands the Ozmas had lost us.

Yes, I decided, I would accept this Thropp girl. I skimmed the rest of the letter, _most tragically my Nessarose is unable to use her legs and therefore will, of course, need wheelchair access to all her facilities which I'm sure you will be happy to provide,_ 'happy to provide' really? The cheek of this man! Yet, he was the Governor and if I got him on my right side I could make sure he conscripted all the fit munchkin men into the army when the time was right for the invasion of neighbouring countries and all I really needed to do was care for his brat of a daughter for a couple of years. I could just place her somewhere with a carer and he'd be happy.

Still, from what he was saying this girl would one day be the Governor herself, would it be better then if I could have more of an influence on her? After all, teenage girls were very easy to influence… In fact I would house her in my private quarters, and then I could give her the right message on how to rule while she was still undecided on her own ethics. Yes, that would be best.

It was only after that, that I noticed that the Governor mentioned in his PS that he also wished to send his older daughter Shiz. I carelessly wrote her name down on the acceptance register – completely forgetting to assign her a room – a bigger mistake than I could ever have imagined as it turned out.

Having finally finished accepting all the paying applicants I moved onto the scholarship students, a good 100 pupils had applied for the five places available. I flicked through the forms and picked out one at random: no Master Onad Teil clearly did not have the essay writing skills to even be considered for a scholarship, how about Master Boq Riddle? I sighed, resolved to find a secretary with enough intelligence to sort through these forms next year and prepared for yet another uneventful year at Shiz…


	24. New Hope

_Year 1291 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

When was the first time I noticed Elphaba Thropp? In all honesty I must have seen her as soon as I greeted the students of Shiz, it is hard to miss anyone with that verdegris – especially as she was clearly being avoided by the rest of the students – she was gripping the handle of her sister's wheelchair fiercely, yet even her sister seemed to be avoiding her gaze. Maybe once upon a time I would have been repulsed by her along with the rest of the students, or even empathised with her situation, but now, colouring or not, she was just one of the thousands of unmemorable little brats I had seen at Shiz University, albeit one who was considerably less annoying than that blonde… thing who didn't seem to understand that I did not want to waste my time teaching her sorcery.

Nor did I really notice her when she questioned me about her room assignments, forgetting to assign a student a room was uncommon but not unheard of and students complaining about said assignments was practically a given. Yes, she was the Governor's daughter, but she clearly was outspoken and of much less importance than her sister. No, it was only when I attempted to take said sister away from her that the green girl came to my attention.

Suddenly I found the wheelchair, still containing the younger Miss Thropp, forced from my grip and thrust back into her sister's hands. For a moment the courtyard was silent, every eye was fixated on the green abnormality. There were many expressions in the crowd, fear, disgust, anger, even jealousy, but no one but me had realised the importance of what they had just seen. This was pure, raw, uncontrolled, powerful magic, the likes of which I had never seen anything even close to. This girl that the entire student body was looking at with such disgust could be the key to solving all of Oz's problems!

The next few minutes went very fast for me, her sister confirmed this had happened before, the girl let out a mumbled apology – which I immediately scolded her for – did she not know that I would willingly kill for that kind of magic? It soon became very clear to me that the girl had no idea of her power. That was for the best, I decided, after all I didn't want her to become too powerful for her (or my) own good. Of course it would take time to teach her to harness her power, but with the amount of magic she appeared to have in her, as long as she was cooperative she would be good enough to help Oscar and me before the end of the year!

I informed of her considerable talent, told her that she must start my sorcery semester immediately and that there was a definish chance that she could work with the Wizard. By the way that her eyes lit up at the news I knew that, after over a decade of trying, I had finally found the girl I was looking for.

I spent the evening grilling Miss Nessarose about her sister, it took me a while for her to open up at first but I had always been good at influencing people to tell me what I wanted. Miss Elphaba, it seemed had been despised by everyone, including her own father, because of the colour of her skin yet she was smart and always determined to do her best at everything – she was just the kind of assistant Oscar needed. I also found that she was known to be very stubborn with a strong sense of right and wrong, but I felt sure that the idea of being accepted by the Wizard would smooth out any objections to any of our actions that could be viewed as dubious. However, I resolved to make her know exactly how great an honour her job was and how much she could do for Oz, just in case.

And indeed I was right about Miss Elphaba's talent, I had taught many students sorcery over the years but none had ever picked up it as fast as her. Such was her skill that we managed to work on two or three spells a lesson and she diligently completed all her theory work in time for the next lesson. It was only after discovering Miss Elphaba that I admitted to myself that I had been close to giving up finding someone who could help us gain what the Ozmas had lost us, but now, at last, I was filled with new hope.


	25. Selfrighteous and Stubborn

_Year 1291 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

The unadulterated hope I felt after discovering Miss Elphaba lasted about a month or so. It dwindled just a little when I found out that Miss Elphaba's self-righteousness and stubbornness may be more of a challenge than I had anticipated.

It was about a quarter of an hour before our seminar had been scheduled, and I had already set our classroom up and had returned to my office to sort out my never ending stack of paperwork. I was halfway through a letter saying yes, Shiz could take a new student, the boy had already been chucked out of six previous Universities but he was the son of the King of the Vinkus and it never hurt to have people with such power on my side, not to mention his father had made a not-so-small donation to Shiz with the application form, when there was a knock at my door.

"Enter."

A scrubby boy nervously pushed open the door, "Erm… Madame…"

"Well spit it out."

"Madame, Doctor Dillamond said to tell you he had to cancel his class early, some inappropriate message was written on the board…"

So the filthy Goat had got my warning, I'd written _Animals should be seen and not heard_ on the back of his board the previous night as he was still refusing to give up his teaching position or even teach to the curriculum – if he would not listen to this I was thinking of having him removed by force. I rushed over to his classroom to see if my message had finally given him the long awaited reaction I had wished for.

When I arrived I was greeted by a closed door I was about to open it when I heard voices from the other side, one I instantly recognised as Dillamond's infernal bleat and the other was Miss Elphaba's. Curious, I left the door closed and, unseen, listened to their conversation.

My curiosity turned to anger when I realised the old Goat was feeding her lies about the Animals being unfairly treated. I stayed outside for a few more moments – the more incriminating information I could get about the so called 'Doctor' the better – but when Miss Elphaba appeared to be being brainwashed by his false words I stepped in and reminded her that, if she was not careful, she would be late for her seminar. I was pleased to see that she was just as eager to attend, as long as I got rid of any bad influences now I was sure this all would still be fine.

I resolved that the Doctor would be replaced as soon as possible by someone who had the right beliefs – and was completely and utterly human.

The second time I questioned whether Miss Elphaba would be as obedient to my will as she needed to be for the good of Oz, and indeed her own good, was about a week later.

Some students had scheduled a party in the Ozdust Ballroom that evening and the whole university was buzzing. I returned to my room to find Miss Nessarose being helped to prepare for it by her sister, I nodded in their direction but respected their privacy. However, after her sister had been picked up by her date, some oversized munchkin or other, Miss Elphaba approached me, her expression thoughtful.

I gave her a rare smile, "Oh it does my heart good to see your sister looking so happy."

The green girl gave me a fleeting smile back but I could tell her thoughts were somewhere else, "Madame, suppose someone you thought was selfish… suddenly did something incredibly kind… for someone you love very much…"

"I don't follow," I replied briskly, in my experience people were naturally selfish and negative first impressions were rarely wrong.

But in the time it had taken for me to answer Miss Elphaba was already decided, "Madame, I need you to do something for me."

I raised my eyebrows, "Yes?"

"Madame, please may you allow Miss Galinda to attend our seminar?"

I looked at her, shocked, why would she want that annoying cream puff to join our lessons? Miss Galinda had asked me at least three times a week if I was really sure I couldn't fit her in, using her very best persuasive techniques. I didn't fall for them, I had seen far too many students try these tricks on me in my experience of teaching, and this girl reminded me sickeningly of Starina. I wondered why Miss Elphaba wanted her to join. The girls were roommates, I remembered, maybe Miss Galinda had been more successful at influencing her green roommate than she had been with me. Although, judging by the looks I'd seen the two of them share that didn't seem likely.

"Miss Elphaba, I'm not sure Miss Galinda is talented enough to…"

"No Madame, I insist…"

"Miss Elphaba, I don't think…"

"If you don't Madame I will quit the seminar."

She had me there, in tighter hold than she ever could have realised. I thought about continuing to object but the determination on her face told me that it would be no use.

"Fine, Miss Elphaba, I'll tell her tomorrow, although I feel you may regret your decision."

"Tell her tonight Madame, please."

I sighed, but if I was going to admit defeat I may as well keep on the good side of the girl who was going to win Oz and me the glory we deserved, "Yes Miss Elphaba, I'll tell her tonight, she'll be at the Ozdust I assume?"

"Of course," if I wasn't mistaken the green girl was trying very hard to resist rolling her eyes, was she really any keener on the blonde airhead than I was? "Thank you so much Madame, good night."

"Goodnight Miss Elphaba."

After she had left I sat down wearily, resigned, frustrated and, if I was honest, a little scared. This girl had considerable power over me and knew how to use it. If she was not so essential to my plans I would have kept her far away. It was far too late for that now, but if I was careful I still had the upper hand, Miss Elphaba, ignored and unloved as a child, would surely succumb to the temptations of power and adoration. _It will be fine,_ I told myself, but all the same for the following months I kept an even closer eye on the odd green girl.


	26. Goats and Lion Cubs

_Year 1292 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

As I always did things I found Doctor Dillamond's replacement with promptness and organisation and was ready to get rid of the Goat shortly after Lurlinemas. Doctor Nikidik was a well educated man, who believed the Wizard's every word, knew that he must respect my orders and teach to the curriculum – instead of the nonsense the dirty Goat had spread – and most importantly was well and truly human. I had decided to introduce Doctor Nikidik to Miss Elphaba's class myself and had even lent him a captured Lion Cub in a fascinating invention Oscar had brought from the other world called a 'cage'. I hoped this would ensure an exciting lesson and endear him and my principles to the pupils and, more importantly, Miss Elphaba.

However, for some reason Dillamond appeared to be less than happy about this change, he refused to leave the day before Doctor Nikidik arrived and was apparently still planning to impose his lies onto the pupils today. Well I had made sure to sort that problem out, I had taken several members of the Gale Force to assist me in making sure that that vile Goat regretted even thinking about defying me.

I burst into the classroom and saw instantly from the shocked faces of the students that the Goat had already told them that he was no longer able to teach. I immediately took on the role of unknowing head teacher – it did not seem appropriate to reveal my true views to Miss Elphaba at the present moment – the girl rushed up to me immediately.

"Madame, you can't permit this!" She looked at me with pure desperation in her eyes yet there was trust still there. She still appeared to believe that I could – and would – do something to change this situation.

I'd have to do something about her blasted positive views on Animals, but I made note to try and keep her trust in me, it would make everything much easier for both of us.

Dillamond interrupted me before I could get any words out convincing her about the righteousness of this situation, "Miss Elphaba, they can take away my job but I shall continue speaking out…"

Not if I had anything to do with it. I tried too subtly motion the guards to move quicker without Miss Elphaba noticing.

Yet even as he was dragged away he seemed, like any other Animal, determined to ruin Oz's one chance for success, "They are not telling you the whole story! Remember that, class! Remember that."

Really, the cheek of him, did he not know I was doing this for Oz's own good? Yet once again he had succeeded in misguiding Miss Elphaba she immediately started trying to rally the class. I knew I had to put a stop to any rebellious action from my future grand vizier, but kindly, you catch more flies with honey.

I tried my best to put on a motherly but regretful smile, "Miss Elphaba, there is nothing we can do, please take your seat." Finally, although with a disturbing amount of reluctance, she sat down and allowed Doctor Nikidik to take his lesson. Relieved at the peace that had finally settled on the class I took my leave, determined to work out a way to convince Miss Elphaba to take the path of righteousness.

My relief was short lived, stopping instantly an hour or so later when Doctor Nikidik shuffled into my office panicked and cubless.

"You did what?"

"I lost the Lion Cub," he mumbled.

"You lost the Lion Cub that Our Wonderful Wizard entrusted you with?"

He nodded his head a fraction, looking down guiltily.

"And pray tell me, how did you manage to lose a tiny, caged, Animal who could not even speak?"

"I-I don't know," he trembled, "One minute I was showing the class our Wonderful Wizard's new invention and when suddenly my vision went blurry and I was overcome with a sudden dizziness and when I recovered a few minutes later the Lion Cub was gone."

I froze, this sounded just like a victim of a magical trance, "and the other students?"

"They confessed that the same feeling came over them too."

My heart raced, I knew only one person with enough power to enchant the entire class at once, "and they were all present afterwards?"

He thought about it for a second, apparently relieved that the blame seemed to be sliding from him, "The green one, who kept complaining about my class wasn't there at the end, I think – yes I'm sure I would have noticed her had she been there afterwards – oh, and the Winkie was absent."

I immediately dismissed the lazy prince, knowing his reputation he'd slipped from the class before this foolish professor had even revealed the Cub, but the green girl was another matter. I clearly had not got rid of that scumbag, Dillamond, early enough. The elder Miss Thropp had always been far too stubborn and self-righteous for my liking and now seemed to be on some misguided mission to save the Animals, unknowing that it would do Oz much more harm than good. Had I had a choice I would have chosen a student that was much easier to mould into our source of magic.

But I knew her weakness, despised by her father and teased by almost everyone she met, the girl longed to be loved and to get the attention she deserved and fortunately I would be able to offer her just that opportunity. I would have rather not have resorted to this just yet but it was clear that it was the only option left.

I would have to invite her to see the Wizard earlier than I had intended to.


	27. A Splash of Realisation

_Year 1292 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

I visited the Emerald City the very next morning along with the Gale Forcers who were taking 'Doctor' Dillamond to the Wizard's Palace to join the Monkeys we had already captured to take part in our research of the long term effects of putting grown Animals in cages.

I took the back entrance into the palace having no interest in faking fear and awe at Oscar's silly machines. He was barely up and still in his stripy pyjamas when I entered.

"Oscar!"

He jumped at the sound of my voice but recovered quickly and turned to me "Ahh Madame, to what do I own the pleasure of your company?"

"The green girl, we need you to take her on as soon as possible."

"Gosh Madame, this early? Is she talented enough to help us…Oz, already?"

I sighed, "She'll cope, I may need to give her extra tuition, but I need to get her out of Shiz and any bad influences there as soon as possible. You need to remind her exactly why she wants this position. She's more feisty than I'd hoped for."

"But we can change that?"

"Of course we can." And I made sure Oscar wrote out one of his finest letters, to make sure Miss Elphaba got an idea of exactly how glamorous and good her new job at the Emerald City would be, inviting her to visit him in about a month – I could get where I wanted to be in a month.

I pocketed the letter and returned to Shiz immediately.

* * *

Lessons had ended at Shiz by the time I returned and, as she did not have a seminar with me today, Miss Elphaba was harder to find than I had expected. It was raining but she didn't appear to be anywhere inside, I debated whether to wait until the next day to give her the letter but ultimately I decided I should get this message to her as rapidly as possible and faced myself to brace the weather outside. Eventually I found her mulling near the edge of the wooded area of Shiz.

"Oh Miss Elphaba, I have finally heard back from the Wizard!" I cried as I rushed towards her.

To my immense satisfaction she looked up immediately, her face filled with excitement and her eyes moving, almost greedily, to the letter in my hand, "The Wizard?"

I smiled almost genuinely, "Yes, he wishes to meet you!"

I was not sure it was possible for anyone to look more thrilled than the girl did now and I wondered why I had feared that she would interfere in my plans at all, "He asked for me?"

I confirmed once more that yes, the Wizard wanted her, and handed the letter over. Instantly she ripped it open, her eyes skimming the page as if trying to take in the unthinkable, for a second I was reminded of a time many years ago – when I was accepted into Shiz – I pushed that thought out of my head as quickly as possible.

When at last it had sunk in enough for her to do anything but stare in awe she looked up and beamed at me, "Madame, I don't know what to say! How can I ever thank you?" and then she did the completely unexpected. She ran forward and put her arms around me in what, I realised after a few seconds, was a hug. I almost froze up before settling to awkwardly pat her on the back, it had been so long since I'd received any sign of human affection and I had in no way expected it to come from this odd green schoolgirl.

When she at last released me I said the first thing that came into my head, "Careful dear you mustn't get wet," since when did I say something so stupid? Had I really let such a foolish thing as a hug intrude on my thoughts for even a second? I quickly fixed my mistake finishing my statement as a way of showing my student my powers, clearing the rain for her and informing her that weather was my speciality. The admiration in her gaze when she saw me perform this spectacular act of magic restored everything to how it should be.

Everything back to normal I finally said what I intended, "Oz-speed, my dear! Make me proud."

She presented me with her usual shy smile, although the happiness still radiated out around her, "I will, I'll try."

And I was satisfied.

* * *

The Following month was one of the busiest I had ever experienced, not only had I got to devise and put together a test to show Oscar, and indeed Miss Elphaba and myself, the extent of her power (I was thinking of seeing if she could cast one of the spells from my treasured Grimmerie) but I also had upped our sorcery lessons, previously three times a week, to every weekday. Miss Elphaba also consumed any spare time I had after that as I had taken up keeping a very close eye on the girl.

On one such day I was watching her silently as she sat by Shiz's lakeside, studying for her visit to the Wizard once again (I have to say for all the reservations I had about the girl, I could never fault the amount of effort she put into her work). She was in the company of Miss Galinda and the spoilt girl's boyfriend – that Winkie Prince. I'd never really understood her friendship with the blonde girl (for by now having taught both girls for several months it became obvious that the two oddly matched roommates _were_ friends and close ones at that) I could see no possible reason that Miss Elphaba would have for liking Miss Galinda. Nor, in my experience, did girls like Miss Galinda wish to be friends with girls like Miss Elphaba. Nevertheless, it had happened and, although the incompetent Miss Galinda was a pain to teach, it had not escaped my notice that Miss Galinda, apparently adored by the majority of students at Shiz, would not be a bad candidate if Oz ever needed a pretty face.

I watched as, evidently bored that his girlfriend was more interested in taking a quiz in her fashion magazine than him, the Vinkan Prince had turned to Miss Elphaba looking over her shoulder at the book she was studying from. I had half a mind to tell the foolish boy to stop distracting my future vizier, but did not want to make my position known to the students, so I was instead delighted that she responded by only looking up briefly and scowling at him. When he persisted she pushed him away, right into the lake, with a loud splash.

He squealed, "I'm wet."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she lied amused, "did I ruin your precious princely locks?"

"But it's cold!" He protested, "and what if there's sharks? I'll be all eaten up and it's all your fault!"

She rolled her eyes, but got up and offered him a hand, "You baby."

With another large splash he pulled her into the water too, her dress billowing out as the lake covered her body.

When she resurfaced she glared at him, "Oh how very mature."

He grinned back at her, "I never claimed I was," and then splashed her, covering her face once again with lake water.

"I hate you," she scowled, although she couldn't resist splashing him back a little, in a way I deemed very uncharacteristic of her.

"No you don't," he teased her knowingly, "even you can't resist my princely charms."

She smirked back, "You wish," and splashed him once again. But she was lying, I could tell, from the way her cheeks reddened, ever so slightly when he had suggested this, the splashing him back – so uncharacteristic for a girl like her – that and the fact that she hadn't been able to stop her eyes moving to his rather well defined chest now his shirt was clinging to it. I almost pitied the girl as I watched the him splash her back; they were just metres away from where Kalidah and I had sat in summer during my few happy months at Shiz, surely she must know that there was never a happy ending for girls like her… us? No handsome prince to sweep us off our feet…

"Elphie! Fifi! What in Oz's name are you doing?" The sound of her crush's girlfriend seemed to bring the green girl back to reality and the little grin she had held on her face slipped away.

"He started it."

"Did not!"

"Well, you're making quite a spectacle of yourselves, get out you two and get into some dry clothes!"

"OK, I'm coming gorgeous," said the Winkie, climbing out of the lake easily, throwing a lopsided grin at his girlfriend, "want to help me change?"

"Oh Fiyero!" Miss Galinda shrieked giggling, while her roommate rolled her eyes, any hints of jealously carefully controlled now, "you know perfectly well how improper that would be! Anyway I need to find Elphie some fashinaliblesome clothes now you've ruined these ones."

The prince grinned and turned to Miss Elphaba, "Well, I wish you the best of luck Miss Elphaba," he said winking, making her cheeks redden once again.

I slipped into the shadows as the students made their way back to their dorm rooms, storing this little piece of information for further use…


	28. Defying Expectations

_Year 1292 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

The day of Miss Elphaba and Oscar's meeting came quicker than I expected. I had arrived in the Emerald City the day before to make sure everything was ready. I was strangely nervous that day, something that I dismissed as foolishness, everything was perfect there was no way Miss Elphaba wouldn't accept this great honour, and anyway I'd stationed Gale Force guards next to every exit just to be in the safe side. Nothing could go wrong.

In retrospect I wish I'd listened much more carefully to my instincts.

I had booked the train tickets for Miss Elphaba myself, giving her a spare one just in case she wanted to invite a friend – I wanted her to see me in the most positive light possible before revealing my position with the Wizard. In fact I had even given myself an official title for the position that she would believe I was occupying _Press Secretary._ I liked it, I thought it sounded very sophisticated, of course _Behind the Scenes Ruler of Oz_ would be more accurate but imagine the mouthful that would take to pronounce!

The day dawned fair – possibly because I had made sure it would with my fair weather spell I had cast the day before – and I checked for the millionth time that everything was ready. It was, of course; Oscar's stupid monkey Chistery was all dressed up and on display ready for his transformation, the other monkeys – once Monkeys but they had been caged long enough to lose the ability to speak – were lying hidden behind a curtain to test the exact potential of Miss Elphaba's strength, my precious grimmerie was still safe but ready for use, I'd devised Oscar's exact speech and practiced it through with him enough times that surely even he couldn't forget it, my own entrance was perfectly planned and Oscar's throne room had been appropriately cleaned and polished specifically to inspire the largest possible amount of awe. Now all I had to do was wait.

I spied Miss Elphaba accompanied by Miss Galinda in the Emerald City from the Emerald Palace's tall windows at just past 11, her meeting with the Wizard was to be at three. Despite my annoyance that now I'd have to put up with the infuriating blonde I was very much satisfied that both girls looked positively thrillifyed to be there, amazed by Oz's Capitol, they would not be the first nor the last, but surely after seeing all this there was no way Miss Elphaba would even question our demands.

I have never seen the hands of the clock move so slowly, the tension in my little room was building up by the second, finally it reached the third hour and I told Oscar that it was time to to call both girls in…

Looking back I still can't pinpoint exactly where we went wrong, nor what we could have done differently, but between Oscar's bumbling off the script and Miss Elphaba's wretched sense of self righteousness and the stupid monkeys appearing to be in pain, but whatever the case something completely unplanned led up to the green girl running away with my precious Grimmerie.

At first I was not so panicked, yes it was unfortunate that it seemed that the girl would be of no further use to us, but she appeared to have got lost on her way out and headed in the direction of one of the towers rather than the exits. The Gale Forcers I had sent after her would capture her and get my grimmerie back and this whole disaster would be overcome with no stress on my part – Oz would never know what the stubbornness of this foolish student had cost them. Nevertheless, I knew this girl must now be disposed of – or at least… put in a position where she could in no way refuse our offer – we could not have someone who knew our secrets working against us.

I went to the palace balcony, where everyone in the city could see me, and magically magnified my voice, spouting a message that would either serve as a message to scare Miss Elphaba into submission. Or, if the impudent girl would still not listen to me, to justify to the citizens of Oz the… measures I may need to now put into place to stop her speaking out.

"Citizens of Oz, there is an enemy that must be found and captured! Believe nothing she says. She's evil. Responsible for the mutilation of these poor, innocent monkeys! Her green skin is but an outward manifestation of her twisted nature! This distortion... this repulsion..." I paused, if they green skin didn't scare the small-minded Ozians enough I needed something that would really strike terror in all their hearts "this Wicked Witch!"

The effect was instantaneous, in seconds the Ozians had gone from happily going about their usual business in the city to shrinking away in terror. I almost smiled, this was too easy, the stupid girl would be begging me to take her back in minutes now she realised just how powerful I really was.

Or at least this was what I thought until she came zooming out of the tower on what looked like a broomstick. It took me a few seconds to realise what she'd done. That blasted girl – that witch – had performed another levitation spell, one powerful enough to make something that could carry her own weight.

Jealousy rose up inside me instantly and (although I would never admit it) a touch of admiration. Years and years of studying that damn Grimmerie and I had only been able to decipherate a couple of spells and here was this girl, who had never even heard of the ancient spellbook before today, and already she was performing more impressive feats of magic than I had ever been able to manage. And with the book that she had no idea how hard I had worked to posses no less.

I had to stop her, no matter what the cost


	29. Restoring Gravity

_Year 1292 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

The weeks after the Witch's 'rise to power' were some of the most hectic I had ever experienced. My campaign against the green abomination started almost immediately, Miss Galinda – or Miss _Glinda_ as she now wished to be known as for reasons I never did bother to find out – came rushing down the tower staircase, tears running most unattractively down her face, begging for his Wizardship's forgiveness.

Oscar glanced at me, as usual completely incompetent without my help. However, at this moment I was only too glad to step in.

"Miss Glinda, dear," I said, moving towards her and placing my arm on her shoulder, she shuddered but did not take it off, "I understand you have just had such a stressifying time. But even in such a horrible position you managed to make the right choice. I was thinking, my dear, we really need someone as good as you over her, to help us now we have such wickedness roaming about us. How would you like to help the Wizard and I change Oz for the better?"

"B…but Madame…" the blonde thing stuttered, "Elphie isn't wicked…"

I brushed away her incompetent stammers with a quick chuckle, I may have got my judgement wrong with the green girl, but Miss Glinda was a much easier case, "My dear, wicked is a very subjective word, excuse me if sometimes you are too young and silly to understand my terminology – I could help you with that if you joined us. But just think, Miss Glinda, the future is clearly going to be a most frightifying time for many Ozians, they will need support if they are going to remain happy, they'll need a role model to look up to and tell them how to feel. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, my dear, but don't you feel that you would be most perfect as that role model."

The girl giggled, "Well, I might be."

I smiled, "Oh I'm sure you will be darling. Now that's settled, well I'll take you back to Shiz in a personal carriage I believe, nothing less than perfect for my future magic assistant! I don't believe we'll need you right away so you can complete your education until graduation (I will continue to teach you magic dear of course – it will be simply essential when you have such an important job as the one I have given you). And then you can come and live in the Emerald Palace itself! How does that sound deary?"

I could see a genuine smile grow on the foolish girl's face, I was most pleased - there was nothing like a pretty puppet to make the Ozians do whatever I wanted them to, "It sounds wonderful Madame! Positively perfectifying!" then suddenly her face fell a little, "But will Fiyero be able to be there too? You know my future husband?"

The lazy Winkie prince? Somehow I didn't think he would be around long enough to marry the silly girl. But there was no point putting her hopes down now, not while this was all going so well, and if he did manage to stay that long… well I knew from personal experience that there was nothing like the wedding of too important pretty people to keep the Citizens of Oz happy and excited.

"Of course my dear."

"Oh thank you, thank you Madame!" she turned to the Wizard, "Oh and thank you too your Ozness! I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that little old me could be doing such an important job."

I resisted the urge to scoff, girls like that always thought they would be important in the end.

A nice little puppet, to rally Ozians against the Witch (not to mention dishearten her when she realised how easily her friend had betrayed her), settled. I now moved onto my next mission, to convince absolutely everyone that there was no truth in the Witch's words at all.

It was a surprisingly easy task. Just like with the Animals the Ozians seemed all too pleased to believe that someone that was different to them was evil. Soon no Ozians would go out at night for fear of meeting her and rumours were spread wildly about powers that even she didn't posses. Even convincing her own father and sister of her new found wickedness was much much easier than I anticipated.

I had called both the Governor and Miss Nessarose for a meeting in my office about a week after the incident in the throne room.

As soon as they entered the room, the governor and his remaining daughter sat close together, as if offering themselves comfort about what I was going to say (or, as I thought later, to comfort each other at how yet another dreadful deed on the green girl's part wouldn't cause irreparable shame on the family), I decided to get straight to the point.

"I expect you have already heard the news about the chaos your daughter has now been causing. I am truly sorry that such an incident happened. I did everything I could to control her as I know you did too your Governorship, but you must know that even in the most well bred families such as yours the most foul anomalies will occur."

"No, no, Madame," the governor responded instantaneously, emotionlessly, "it is I who should be apologising to you, for inflicting such a terror on your fine academy and now on all of Oz. I only thought, most foolishly now I see, that perhaps she could be tamed. But clearly I was wrong. No, that girl was bad from birth, the Unnamed God gave me a sign in her skin colour but I didn't listen. I was arrogant enough to try and keep her and for that I am being punished."

Maybe there was a flicker of sympathy for the girl at those words, I knew exactly what it was like to have a father who cared nothing for you, but maybe not – after all this hate let me play on a move that I hadn't even bargained for.

"Well my dear Governor – I still do not believe for a moment that an excellent man like you could be at fault – but if you insist on trying to do everything you can to put it right you would not, of course, mind providing extra food supplies from Munchkinland to the Emerald City you see we need to increase the size of the Gale Force in order to hunt down the Wit…"

"Consider it done."

No, I didn't feel any sympathy at all for the Witch, her father's hate only made it easier for me to get what I wanted.

Miss Nessarose stayed silent throughout all this meeting and indeed throughout the next few months. She appeared to be trying to keep her head out of the matter entirely and keep a neutral stance, only clinging even closer to her Munchkin boyfriend. However, I could see her sister's desertifcation hurt her and I resolved to make the odd subtle comment about how she seemed to care more about terrorising Oz than caring for her sister to turn that hurt into hate.

And so, although the girl was still remaining infuriatingly uncatchable, I took each small step to turn everyone away from her. First Oz, than her friends and now even her relations. In the months following I even perfected a magic proof cell in Southstairs ready to place her in when my ever increasing Gale Force inevitably caught her and by then, I assured myself, I would make sure she was well and truly broken.


	30. Positions and Proposals

_Years 1294 and 1296 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

Graduation, for the students it means the world; a celebration for their achievements, freedom from the toils of studying, excitement for the future, even nostalgia for the days that have gone. For me all the graduation ceremonies I have attended merge together in the repetition of the same tedious routine with the exception of two. The first was, of course, my own graduation ceremony where, far from being an achievement, now only represents for me one of the many losses in my life. The second was the last ceremony I attended.

It was two years since the uprising of the Wicked Witch of the West and the whole of Oz was in constant panic. It was delightfully startling how gullible the Ozians were, even the smallest of crimes were now blamed on the Witch even without me having to bother reporting on it and the most rediculoucious rumours had sprung up about her. Lurline, the Ozians were practically doing my job for me!

Even so the role of Press Secretary, now Oz was in such hard times, was still hard work and required me to spend less time on my responsibilities at Shiz. I had continued to tutor Miss Glinda in more superficial branches of magic. I thought she and the Ozians would appreciate pretty looking magic and I had no intention of teaching her anything that could be remotely dangerous in the unlikely circumstances that she managed to get a thought into her head and tried to use her powers against the greater good for Oz. However, with Miss Glinda graduating and the situation with the Witch requiring so much attention I was giving up my position as headmistress the following year, I figured after the Witch had been captured I could reassess what my next step for making Oz all powerful again would be.

And I was certain we would capture her. She was being annoyingly elusive but I was sure with such a large Gale Force now regularly covering the whole of Oz. Surely it must be only a matter of time before the idiot girl was captured. Nevertheless, I was most pleased when the Winkie Prince announced what he wished to do after leaving Shiz.

I had to admit the Winkie had surprised me. Far from being kicked out during his first term at Shiz as I had expected he had pretty much settled down to his studies and got a fairly decent final mark. His overjoyed father put his sudden change in attitude down to me. I was just as bewildered as the Winkie King, but accepted his complement and the sizable donation of thanks that went with it.

Even so, his determination 'to help Oz' as he called it had surprised me, he intended to join the Gale Force. Naturally, as he was from a family of great importance, he was made a lieutenant immediately. I hoped such a well known figure joining the hunt for the Witch would encourage even more young men to join and, well, I'd always had the slightest fear that some of the Witch's old friends would be more resistant to my new views on her than the rest of Oz. But apparently, for once, I was wrong and it made me happy to think of how disheartened the Witch would be to see that even they were no longer on her side.

Miss Glinda's graduation speech was annoyingly long. However, I endured it because afterwards I made my big announcement. That the Wizard was offering her job so she could use her 'incredifyed' talents in helping Oz in these troubled times. She had already accepted this job of course so the acceptance letter I offered now was merely a formality for the audience's sake, but even so before reaching out her hand she paused for a second and something glinted in her eyes then looked down, but the next second she was herself again and with a perfect smile she accepted the envelope. When the crowd roared with genuine happiness and her eyes glowed with idea of the honour bestowed upon her I knew I had made the right choice in getting Miss Glinda on my side.

She was even better than I expected. If there were any doubts to the Wizard's policies before Miss Glinda (or Glinda the Good as I had renamed her) smoothed them all out, the Ozians, the Gale Force even the press loved her to bits. Armed with her good looks, her way with the Ozians and a blissfully empty brain which made it remarkably easy for me to tell her to do whatever I wanted she was perfect.

But not even Glinda, with her popularity, idiocy and overwhelming (and overwhelmingly stupid) desire to be loved by everyone appeared to be getting us any closer to the capture of the Witch. Two years had passed since Glinda the Good had become the public face of Oz and we were getting nowhere. In fact, if I was honest with myself, the Gale Force seemed to be getting worse at their job, fewer and fewer Animals were being captured each year and even their reported sightings of the Witch and her hiding places were diminishing.

Refusing to admit that the Gale Force's ineptness was drawn from any bad on my part I blamed it on the current Captain of the Guard and got Oscar to chuck him in Southstairs. Of course that now presented the problem of finding a new Captain of the Guard and I had a feeling that none of them would be too happy risking taking the position now.

However, the Winkie Prince once again pleasantly surprised me. I had to admit he was much more unpredictable than I had originally anticipated, not only had he stayed at with Glinda for the entirety of his years at Shiz and afterwards (to my great pleasure the fact she had a royal boyfriend only increased Glinda's popularity) but he had volunteered to become the new Captain. Once I would have dismissed him instantly, a silly young man like him – barely more than a boy – probably just wanted another impressive title to add to his already extensive list of ones he had gotten from being born into the Vinkan royal family, but something I had sensed about the young man on the occasions he was in my company – a sort of quiet determination – made me curious…. Not to mention I had not forgotten the Witch's… fondness for her ex-best friend's boyfriend. I decided to invite him in for an interview.

"Enter."

He entered calmly, controlled, trying hard to hide his tenseness. He sat down when invited, looking me straight in the eyes.

"So Master Tiggular, I hear you are interested in being promoted to Captain of the Guard."

"I am."

"And why do you believe yourself worthy of this prestigious position?"

"Because I am determined to do what is best for Oz. As you well know Madame I knew the Witch at school so I think I have at least a small idea of how her strange mind works. I believe this gives me an advantage over the other men and should mean that it will be easier for me to find her and capture her, and believe me Madame, I will do whatever it takes to find her." His words were smooth and well practiced but his voice held passion; I could see that he was telling the truth. This once foolish Winkie Prince was suitable for this job in more ways than he knew.

But speaking of foolish… "Yet Master Tiggular, as you well know you did not come to Shiz with a spotless reputation. In fact, if my memory is not failing me (and I assure you, it is not), you were expelled from six schools prior to Shiz?"

He nodded, clearly expecting the question; his face took on a well practiced look of shame that, for some reason, looked more genuine than I expected, "I have changed Madame. Certain people I have met at your fine institution, Miss Glinda for one, and of course the wonderful teaching I experienced there, have influenced me to become a better person."

"Very well then Master Tiggular, you may have the job."

Surprise flicked in his fixed expression, he had been clearly expecting much more of a fight, "Thank you Mada…"

"On one condition," certainly the green girl would be deeply hurt when she realised the one that was hunting her was her former crush – but I wanted to make the wound deeper – I knew firsthand that there was nothing like heartbreak to crush a spirit.

"Name it," he said instantly, the confident expression still plastered on his face, but something flicked in his eyes. Was it fear?

"Marry Miss Glinda."

For a few moments his well formed façade fell clean off, "Wait! What? No! Why?" he spluttered.

"It will increase Oz's morale, Master Tiggular," I explained, as if to a child, "there's nothing like a good wedding in hard times to raise moral, and it will assure the people of Oz that you are the right man for this important job."

"But, no! What if… what…" he closed his eyes for a second to regain his thoughts, his controlled voice returned once again, "What if I do not feel ready for this commitment?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, it might just ruin the atmosphere, young men hadn't changed a bit since my day, "Well then I'm afraid I cannot offer you the job, I bid you good day Master Tiggular, although may I warn you that if you do not get engaged sometime in the near future it may have a negative impact on Miss Glinda as well, after all you of all people must know the ways of gossip."

"Wait, wait," the panic was barely veiled, I smiled subtly, once again I had easily got my own way, "I'll marry Glinda."

"Thank you Master Tiggular, I knew you'd see it my way. Now I was thinking you could propose at our next press conference – on Friday – make sure you get a ring with a large traditional diamond and show it to me beforehand so I can make sure Miss Glinda's dress matches it, I'll…"

"No."

"What?"

"If I'm proposing to Glinda it will be in private," he said firmly, "or I will not accept the job and agree to marry Miss Glinda."

He did not wither under my gaze as I assessed just how valuable he would be as Captain of the Guard and fiancé to Glinda the Good. I looked for any crack in his self assurance but apparently years of being fawned over by every young woman and tabloid newspaper had paid off, he was good.

"Very well, Master Tiggular," I said finally, "You will be promoted to the position of Captain of the Guard tomorrow, but I want to hear of Miss Glinda's engagement before the week is out or you will be stripped of you position, and much more if I so desire, you may propose in private."

"Thank you Madame."

"You may leave."

Only when my office door was, once again, shut I allowed myself a sly smile, I still held the upper hand, the Winkie had not said anything against engagement parties….


	31. Ballrooms and Traitors and Storms

_Year 1296 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

When did it all go wrong? It is a question I ask myself often. When was the last time I had a chance to pull out before my fate was sealed? At what point did I start the chain of events, the outcomes of which no one could have ever predicted, that led to my own demise?

Maybe, in the bleak days that I have left, I will never find a true answer to this question. Maybe there isn't one. However, the last time I really felt in control of the events of my life must have been on that evening just, a little more than two weeks before the death of the Wicked Witch, a little more than two weeks before my fall from everything I had spent my entire life trying to achieve.

Glinda came rushing into my office that evening. Since her move to the Emerald City, despite the fan worship she received wherever she went, she had had no close friends to talk to so I often ended up on the receiving end of her gossip. Despite the annoyingness of her babble, as I was the Wizard's Press Secretary, occasionally the gossip was very useful to me as this young woman seemed to be able to find out information that even my spies couldn't. However today, despite the news already being very well known to me, I had been counting on her to relay to me her information.

"Madame, Madame! Me and Fiyero are getting married! He proposed and everything!"

I attempted my warmest smile, "Excellent dear. Let me see your ring? Very good, I'll see if I can find you a matching dress – I'll get the fastest tailors in Oz onto it at once – what do say we have a surprise engagement party this Saturday?"

Glinda beamed up at me, "That sounds wonderful Madame. I am certain my Fifi will adore an engagement party!"

Privately I was not sure 'her Fifi' would be quite as fond of such a thing as she believed, but his feelings towards the party, Glinda and the engagement in general were well and truly beside the point. The Ozians would be positively thrillifyed with celebrating the engagement of their Glinda the Good and the most perfecticle party that would go with it, not to mention it should strike a blow towards the Witch, that was very important.

"That's most splendifyed dear! We must make sure to invite all the most important people – you will of course know the Gillikinese with status better than I do, and we should invite all the Emerald City's officials and their wives, the Governor of Quadling Country and the new Governor of Munchkinland…"

It was then, I believe, I had a feeling of trepidation. It was small yes, but it was most certainly there, something telling me I should not go on, that I should abandon my plans or all would be lost…

"Are you alright Madame? You look a little pale."

"Of course I am," I snapped, still slightly on edge, "now do you have any more suggestions for our guest list or will I have to think of them myself?" After all, I had spent years ignoring any objections I had had towards my actions, what was ignoring one more going to do?

* * *

I had made sure the day of the engagement party dawned bright and sunny, although the Witch's theft of my Grimmerie had made me lose a significant amount of my power all the weather spells were still firmly engraved in my memory ready for me to recite on demand. Preparation for it had been hectic, not only did the Emerald Palace's ballrooms and courtyard need to be cleaned and decorated for the event, I had to make sure Glinda the Good's fiancé knew nothing about it.

The Winkie Prince had been dragged to the party by Glinda under the pretence of a press conference and in many ways it did start out like one. Since the Witch's rise to power the Ozians seemed to need my constant support and reassurance that they were not going to be murdered in their bed and therefore spent the first quarter of an hour informing me of the new rumours about her, most of which I had already heard, while these created a good aura of fear which could then be used to encourage their submissiveness to my will, they did become a little tedious after a while.

I could see out of the corner of my eye the Winkie was getting increasingly frustrated and I decided to move on with things, first announcing his new position as Captain of the Guard and then his and Glinda's engagement. He looked about as happy about the party as I had expected, which was a whole less happy than what Glinda had predicted, but whether it was because of support for his blonde fiancée or because, like her, he could not resist the love of the Ozians he stayed put.

That was until the Witch was brought up in conversation again.

I did not know exactly what he objected to, or when the argument started, but I was startled from telling the Ozians some of the many terrors the Witch was blamed for by Glinda shrieking his name. The Winkie Prince stormed out the room and she was left standing alone.

She covered it up well, I'll give her that. Maybe the Ozians, who all but worshiped her, would have believed that he really was going to get her a refreshment but I saw the tears that she hurriedly blinked out of her eyes, the fury in his face as he exited the room and the stutter in her voice as she provided her explanation. I immediately resolved to find out exactly what Master Tiggular's problem was and see if I could speed the wedding up if there was indeed trouble in dreamland.

However, my fears were put to rest when he returned to the ballroom twenty or so minutes later, apparently forgiving Glinda and they joined the other couples in the dance.

I didn't dance, I had never really learnt, and anyway I wouldn't have had the time with all the Ozians still expressing to me about their fears that the Witch would catch them and eat them alive. In a way it was exhilarating, there was a time when people sought to ignore me as much as possible now they seemed to take my advice as gospel, but it was also rather repetitive and frustrating but none so much as a few hours into the ball. I saw a Gale Force soldier, still in uniform, go up to the Winkie. The Prince left the ballroom calling his men to join him immediately. About a minute later Glinda too sped out of the room.

By the time I managed to prise myself away from the questioning Ozians for long enough to attempt to make my way to the throne room I was met by several Gale Force soldiers coming from the other direction.

"What's happened?"

A soldier, who mustn't have been much older than 18 replied, eyes glowing, "Captain Tiggular's caught the Witch!"

Resisting the urge to break out grinning on the spot, this was just too perfect to be true, I raced on eagerly to the throne room wishing that the Palace's corridors were not so long.

I was laughing by the time I entered the throne room.

"Oh, is it true? Your betrothed has taken her into custody?" I asked Glinda instantly.

Oscar looked up at me, his face more grim than I would have expected, "Our new Captain of the Guard had other plans."

For a second I didn't understand what he meant, I continued looking blindly around the room for the Captain and his prey, finding only open cages everywhere, the Witch had appeared to have allowed the Monkeys and the Goat to escape too, but at the moment that was hardly the issue.

"You mean she hasn't been captured?"

Oscar sighed "Quite the contrary."

And then it sunk in. The Winkie's determination to find the Witch, his fury at the press conference where the Ozians were constantly insulting the Witch, his indifference to Glinda yet he had still stayed with her when staying with her would mean many more promotions in the Gale Force, even his sudden determination to do well at school after the Witch had left. I thought back to the day beside the lake, I had not seen everything after all, yes the Witch had had a crush on him, but what I hadn't noticed was that the Winkie also had had a crush (or maybe even something more) on her and, I realised with a jolt, my ignorance had made it unbelievably easy for him to find her.

No! Protested my sensible side, none of this made any sense. Girls like her – like me – never got guys like him, especially when there was someone like Glinda the Good around! Never, never in my life had I seen anyone able to give up so much for one person (except possibly Notta but I tried not to think of her), it was just not how life worked. It was not possible, yet it had happened, jealously welled up inside me, did no one know how much Delva would have wanted – needed – someone who didn't let her down, who didn't leave her when they were still needed? That Witch did not know just how lucky she was…

Oscar's words brought me back to reality, "And considering how well she eluded us last time..."

Fury, like I had never felt before, drove at me from all directions, this girl, this Witch, whose dumb luck I had never had, had once again ruined my perfect plan "Well, we'll just flush her out and force her to show herself," I snapped.

"But how?" Oscar, as useless as ever pondered. Admittedly, I had no idea either, but it would have been nice if for once he…

"Her sister."

I turned to the heartbroken blonde girl, for once realising she might just have something useful to say, "What? What did she say?"

There was a moment's hesitation and then a fury, every bit as large as mine glowed in her eyes, "Use her sister. Spread a rumour. Make her think her sister is in trouble and she will fly to her side... and you'll have her."

There was a moment of silence. The stupid blonde girl had a plan, and a good one at that, a tweak here and there and it would be perfect. Oscar and I looked at each other stunned.

"Exactly so," he said finally.

Having expended a little of her anger on her idea, I could now see there was some of the hurt and betrayal that for once she could not hide behind her bubble façade, "Now, if your Ozness will excuse me I have a slight headache, I think I'll lie down."

As useful as she had been tonight I was relieved the girl had left the room. She might still be innocent enough to object to some of the necessary changes to her plan.

It was only after her footsteps died away that I pointed out the obvious flaw, "Yes, well...a rumour won't do it. Elphaba's too smart for that."

"Far too smart," Oscar agreed, getting my meaning instantly, if we wanted to catch the Witch we needed to kill her sister.

"Perhaps," I muttered, more to myself than anyone else, plans already forming in my head, "a change in the weather..."

The guards chose that moment to come back, distracting me, temporarily, from my plot and marvelling at just how effective using a sister as bate for another one would be. Their arms were flopping uselessly beside them, their uniforms soaked, all were carrying two large buckets of water. Surely, they hadn't all been foolish enough to fall for the 'water will melt the Witch' rumour? I glared at them.

"Where are they?" One of them asked stupidly.

"Your Captain," I informed them icily, "has decided to betray all of Oz and run off with the Witch." I paused watching their mouths drop open, their faces now also displaying anger and hurt, "So I suggest now you drop all those useless buckets of water and attempt to catch them before they leave the Palace, and if you are idiotic enough to fail please report back here promptly, I expect you to be in Munchkinland tomorrow morning."

I watched them dash quickly out of the room, although I had long since given up the hope of them catching the Witch and the traitorous Captain before they left the Palace. Still, while one old school friend had proved to be surprisingly loyal to her, the other most certainly had not. Glinda the Good had provided me with a trap so simple and perfect that surely even the stupid Gale Force soldiers couldn't muck up.

Now all I needed was a way to kill Miss Nessarose without arousing suspicion. The obvious way to kill her without many suspecting my involvement would be with the weather, but how would I be able to make a storm or disaster deadly enough to kill Miss Nessarose without the other Munchkins thinking it was a curse and perhaps questioning the Wizard's rule?

I knew that the new Governor of Munchkinland was unpopular, so much so that people were calling her the Wicked Witch of the East after her sister, but how to make something so small to just effect her but so deadly that it would result in her death?

By lucky chance, I did know what Miss Nessarose was doing at nine o'clock the following day, she was to present the opening of some church and I knew from her schooldays that she was never late for anything. If I could drop something on top of her that would finish her off without evidence…

But that presented another problem, what could I drop exactly? I could use a tornado to pick it up but I didn't want the storm to cause dissatisfaction in other parts of Oz. Manmade objects were so much easier to control by wind power especially if I could picture them precisely in my head, but where would I get something manmade and big enough that no one in Oz would miss…

Then it hit me.

"Oscar," I called, "can I have a look at your photograph of the other world?"

He looked bewildered at my request but after a few tense minutes of searching he brought it to me, it was obviously something he still treasured.

I looked at the grassy hills and farms and then at the little farmhouses attached, I chose a large one to focus on. Then muttering a select few words and focusing on all the fury for the wretched green Witch in my mind I summoned a hurricane to pull the house out at its roots and drive it forward to Munchkinland.

For a second, maybe less, a flicker of doubt crossed my mind, I knew exactly how painful it was to lose a sister, could I really inflict this on someone else? But I reminded myself how much I hated that Witch and that this was for the greater good of Oz before my loss of concentration could ruin my entire plan. As a matter of fact I was lucky I caught myself when I did, that loss of focus made me miss my target by a few metres, still close enough to squash Miss Nessarose, but missing the bottom of her legs and her ruby red slippers.

Finally having cast my spell I fell back, exhausted, into a magic induced sleep. Waiting for successful results at last.


	32. Through Their Lies

_Year 1296 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

I ordered the Gale Force to arrive at the location of the Governor's death soon as the house had landed. I also told Glinda to be there as well, to offer consoleification and propaganda to any Munchkins who might be misguided enough to think that her death was a bad thing. I was sure Glinda the Good's foolish words would be enough to have them all thinking my way.

Exhausted as I was (my sleep had made me feel a little better but performing a large spell was always draining for a good few days afterwards) I was hardly able to stop pacing. My plan was certain to work but for some reason I was still nervous.

Glinda was the first one to arrive back. I attempted to corner her the moment she got through the door but for once she evaded me.

With a cry of, "Leave me alone Madame!" she ran off into her chambers and locked the door. I could hear loud sobs when I pressed my ear against it. Furious as I was for the girl's defiance of me I decided I would leave her – at least for the moment. After all, I reasoned, the guards must be returning very soon now with the captured Witch. Anyway, the blonde girl would stop being upset about her ex-friend as soon as she realised just how much the Ozians would adore her at the celebration of the Witch's capture.

However, the guards took longer than I had expected and I was not amused when they returned empty-handed.

"And what exactly do you think you're doing?"

They shuffled sheepishly and murmured indecisively.

"Where is the Witch?"

There was another series of indecisive murmurs.

"TELL ME!"

The guards looked at each other before one muttered quickly looking down, "She got away."

I scowled furiously. Useless! How did Oscar manage to have such incompetent men? "And can any of you stupid idiots tell me how this happened?"

"It – it was not our fault M-Madame," the guard stammered, "that traitor Tiggular got in our way. He threatened to s-shoot Glinda the Good if we did not let her go."

Personally, I would have preferred the annoying cream puff had gotten shot, but I supposed that given the circumstances, the idiocy of the Ozians and their fickle tastes in politics the decision was probably for the best.

"We captured Tiggular though."

That was good news. Surely if there was anyone we could bate the Witch with it would be her so called 'lover', and even if she didn't come I could execute him to show the Ozians exactly what happens to traitors.

"Where is he?"

"Him? Tiggular? Oh… we, we tortured him, to try and find where the Witch went. But he didn't tell us and… and…"

"He died," supplied another soldier, almost too quickly.

"Yes, yes, he died," agreed the soldier.

"And the body?" I asked.

"The body," the guard muttered, "Well we, didn't…"

"…didn't want to scare the Munchkins so we dumped him in a lake so there's no sign of the body," another soldier prompted.

"And nothing weird or funny happened with the Witch or with her freaky magic or with anything to interfere," piped up another soldier, who looked about 16.

The soldier next to him elbowed him sharply in the ribs, "Sorry about young Reddy here Madame, he's too young to be good with words. What he means is we were fortunate enough not to have the Witch play us a little surprise visit to interfere with our… operation."

I sighed and turned away, uninterested in more of their babble. Gale Force soldiers, bumbling idiots the lot of them. Still, the fury of my ever so simple plan failing because of their incompetence was slightly wavered by the fact that the foolish prince that the Witch was so fond of was dead.

Surely, with him down she would not last much longer alone? After all, now she had no inside help and I knew personally how hard it was to run on a broken heart. In fact was this whole thing not a blessing in disguise? Now the Witch's beloved was dead and she would know it was entirely her own fault! A silly sensitive girl like her would surely let that get into her head and practically give herself up.

But there was always a way to rub extra salt into an already stinging wound – just to speed up the process – and I had a new plan that would do just that. This plan would also handily sort out the awkward explanation of why Glinda the Good's handsome fiancé's had disappeared – not to mention would help make the Ozians hate the Witch even more.

Being the press secretary all news was run through me before it was published. Yesterday I had chosen to make sure no mention of the Winkie Prince's sudden departure from the ball reached the common Ozians, only details of the beauty of Glinda the Good's dress and ring, and today I was most grateful for it. The Ozians didn't need to know I had made a minute mistake in choosing the new Captain of the Guard. Instead, with the new story I had submitted to the press, they would see what a fine brave man I had quite rightly appointed and exactly how evil the Wicked Witch of the West was.

Soon the official version of the Winkie's betrayal and subsequent death was everywhere. Prince Fiyero, the handsome, admirable and very competently appointed Captain of the Guard and Fiancé of Glinda the Good, using his intelligence and clever deduction skills found out exactly where the Witch was in a way that no one had before. He then (oh so bravely) tried to capture her. However, despite his great ferociousness and strength even he could not conquer the Witch's evil power and after a great and brave battle on the handsome Prince's part, in which he fought hard and chivalrously, he was most tragically murdered by the Witch. I then specified that it was up to Oz to avenge his tragic and youthful death by trying to kill or capture the Witch themselves. For surely we did not want anymore horrendifyed youthful deaths like the one of Prince Fiyero, the bold and brave fiancé of our very own Glinda the Good?

The story was even more effective than I had planned. The public, already disgusted and terrified of the Witch, were now appalled and outraged. Hate groups were set up everywhere and Ozians ,in their hundreds were clamouring to join them, desperate to get revenge on the awful deeds done by the Wicked Witch of the West. Everyone was participating; mothers were telling their children that if they misbehaved they'd turn out like the Witch, Ozian men were making crossbows and searching the sky for her, farmers were sharpening their pitchforks for attack and a large majority of the teenaged female population in the Emerald City took up wearing black mourning clothes and 'kill the Witch' badges.

The Vinkans too who previously – while not unsupportive – had not been completely forward in their support for the hunt of the Wicked Witch now loathed her. They were furious at her murdering their beloved Prince who they were now sure was a brave hero. The Vinkan royal family expressed more interest than they had ever seemed to have before in their son and sent the majority of their soldiers to the Emerald City help track the Witch down.

But what I was most pleased about was the unseen wound that I was sure I was causing. The Witch, now hated even more than anyone thought was possible, must be feeling so incredibly alone. The new crime that she was accused of committing would be a bitter reminder that her lover's death was entirely her own fault. That, whatever she tried to do, things would only get worse for her. I wanted to make sure she knew she was playing into my hands no matter which cards she played.

However, as much as my news spread like wildfire in these hectic times, there was another story which fascinated people just as much. Apparently the house which I had dropped on Miss Nessarose had not been empty. Inside were a girl and a dog from the other world. They were now travelling to the Emerald City with a set of strange travelling companions in order to ask the Wizard to let her go home.

Naturally the Ozians, who always appeared much fonder of strangers who had inexplicably landed in Oz than their own, were already declaring her as a saviour sent by the Unknown God to save them from the Witch. I had not seen the girl in person but I didn't really think she had much hope – especially as the Witch appeared to have some personal vendetta against her. In fact, for the first time, the Witch was (at least a little) living up to her reputation, threatening the girl and her odd friends, even throwing fireballs and enchanting trees and flowers to prevent their success.

Maybe, I thought, after years of being attacked and having everything taken from her the girl had for once decided to fight back. The Ozians didn't notice the change. Oscar found it bewildering.

I wasn't surprised.


	33. Witch Hunts

_Year 1296 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

They made it to the Emerald City. I was surprised to be honest. The Witch, with all her threats and obstacles, had not managed to finish them off before I was forced to deal with them. If I had not known better I would have said someone was helping them, but I had strictly ordered both Oscar and Glinda to have nothing to do with them.

I allowed them to enter the Emerald City, the Ozians would have thrown a fit if I had not. But now I had the problem of trying to get out of giving the fools their strange and impossible requests (a heart, a brain and courage, really?) without them (and possibly the rest of Oz in the process) losing their faith in the powers of the Wizard.

I'd have to stop them. That much I was certain of. But how to quietly get rid of people – things – that the Ozians believed were such heroes? It had been easy to criminalise the Witch – people disliked her because of her skin colour anyway. Miss Nessarose could be disposed of because she was so universally disliked around Munchkinland, for her policies, and the rest of Oz, for her sister, that her death was seen as a blessing.

The Winkie, on the other hand, had been popular and his death had been blamed on the Witch. What if I was to do something similar with the girl and her companions? After all, with the Witch in her current state (she'd even flown into the city mere hours ago calling for the girl to surrender – it had taken a lot of swift talking to calm the Ozians down) surely it wouldn't even take much effort on my part to make her kill the ruggedly lot herself?

But for a moment something held me back. I watched them scarper round the city from a window in the Emerald Palace, moving from different shops and salons getting prepared for a meeting that would not live up to their expectations. They truly were an odd bunch: the girl and her dog from the Otherworld, an animated scarecrow, a tin man and a Lion who was somehow still roaming free in Oz (I resolved to get rid of him as soon as this whole troublesome matter was over).

However, something other than that was bothering me as I watched them frolicking around arm in arm. There was something eerily familiar about the smiles that were painted (in some cases more literally than others) on their faces as they had the time of their lives in what seemed to be the city of their dreams.

Suddenly, I saw before me not the blistering Emerald of the city but the Dazzling White Marble of Ozma town. Delva and Notta were running around the Capitol's market hand in hand, giggling, screaming for joy in complete awe of this amazing city which was ours to explore. Notta, who died before her 25th birthday. Delva, Delva, who became me.

Then the walls returned to their Emerald sheen but to the days when they were not plastered with the misdeeds of the Wicked Witch. Another two girls, one blonde one green, were shopping, smiling and having a good time – best friends and fitting in. The last good time the girls had together as it turned out.

I turned my attention out of my memories and to the Emerald City's newest visitors. They were happy now, but how long would it take for the grim reality of Oz to shatter this illusion as it had for so many of its visitors beforehand?

My decision made I went to Oscar and, despite his protests, insisted he told the group that he would only grant their wishes if they killed the Wicked Witch of the West.

* * *

My idea was taken, by the group, with a greater amount of enthusiasm than I had expected. The Tin Man in particular was eager to get to business straight away. Oscar swore to me that he was sure the scarecrow seemed disgusted with his request, but whenever I saw him he seemed excited, happy even, at the prospect of finding the Witch – but then again you can never tell with brainless fools.

The rest of Oz seemed to believe that being sent on a Witch Hunt was a great honour and many more joined the party as they announced their intentions. Fields of Witch Hunters – armed mostly with only farm implements hailed the girl (who could not have been more than 14) as their leader, swore to not rest until they had killed the Witch and then dashed around wildly trying to find her.

Needless to say their first attempt was unsuccessful. The Witch Hunters returned empty handed, having lost their confidence, the farm girl and her dog. However the scarecrow, who had been seen having a conversation with a Winged Money, had apparently found out that the Witch was residing in Kiamo Ko. No one knew exactly what had gone on during that conversation but whatever the case soon the entire party was listening to the idiot without a brain.

Their confidence restored with this new lead the party gathered together once again to find the girl and kill the Witch. Personally, I hoped she would already be dead, it would make things a lot easier for Oscar and the Ozians' fury might just be enough for them to finish off the Witch themselves.

Nevertheless, I attended the gathering alongside Miss Glinda (she hadn't made a public appearance since her fiancé's death and I thought it was high time she got her act together again), wishing the Witch Hunters good fortune in both finding the girl and disposing of the Witch.

I must say I was very impressed by the way the Tin Man rallied up the crowd, if I hadn't known better I would have said he was taught by one of the fine public speaking tutors at Shiz, the genuine anger in his voice and the power in his speech seemed to perfectly fuel the crowd's bloodlust.

However, one person watching didn't seem quite so happy. The little blonde cream puff, normally so unquestioning but then again normally she didn't look so broken, turned to me almost desperately "Madame, you've got to stop this, it's gone too far!"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Stop now? When finally, after five years, we were getting somewhere? "Oh, I think Elphaba can take care of herself," I answered curtly, hoping it would shut her up.

I had no such luck, after only a moment or two she turned to me again, hesitant, but there also seemed to be an edge of something I hadn't heard before in her voice, "Madame, something's been troubling me about Nessarose and that cyclone."

I brushed her off again, "Oh yes... well, I guess it was just her time." Had she really forgotten all the attention she had gotten from that already? I was sure she'd forget about the whole instance soon when she got all the publicity from her support of the Witch Hunters.

"Was it? Or did you..." Now I was sure I could hear it, her voice held the defiance that had shown itself in her green roommate all those years ago and her face too, it was not as strong as the Witch's had been, but there was something there that I needed to get rid of and fast.

I paused, picking my words carefully, I needed her to remember exactly where her place was. When I did speak I let my true feelings about her out at full force, "Now, you listen to me, Missy, you may have fooled the rest of Oz with this "aren't I good" routine, but I know better. You've wanted this since the beginning... and now you're getting what you wanted. So just smile and wave and shut up!"

The girl just stood there, flabbergasted, but I knew the words had hit home. I saw no trouble from her in the future.

I returned my attention to the crowd and shrieked, "Good fortune, Witch Hunters!"

To my immense satisfaction Glinda meekly echoed my cry, "Yes, good fortune!"


	34. The Final Curtain

_Year 1296 – during the rule of our Wonderful Wizard_

They killed her.

The Wicked Witch of the West was dead.

I couldn't quite believe it.

I never did find out exactly how she was killed. I only heard the universal cheer of the Witch Hunters and the townspeople alike as the girl and her (now rather large) group returned successful. Celebrations were held in every street, all businesses were closed for this day of celebration and the farm girl was deemed a hero. And me? I was delighticated, finally that troublesome girl was gone and I could continue my plans in peace.

The only one who didn't seem too pleased was Oscar. He had been moping around for a good few days – some nonsense about how it was immoral to send the girl to her almost certain death – but even now she had returned safely he was still depressed. I could only assume it was now about not having the talent to grant the girl and her peer's requests. After all what else could it have been about? The Witch's death?

"Improvise," I told him, "you'd have to really muck it up to make those thick-headed Ozians to stop adoring you anyway. Look, that clock you have in the corner is shaped like a heart, give that to that silly tin can. And all the Gale Forcers seem to think a medal proves you're brave – a dumb Animal should think so too. The scarecrow… I'll see if I can find you a spare diploma from my Shiz days. There that wasn't so hard was it?"

"And the girl?" Oscar reminded me.

I rolled my eyes, although mainly to cover the fact that I had run out of ideas, "Think of something yourself, I can't be expected to do everything around here. You ready to receive them?"

"Not… Not really," Oscar admitted, "what if…"

"It'll be fine," I assured him, what possibly could go wrong now so much was in our favour? "They're waiting already, I'll send them in." And turned to tell the palace guards to let the girl and her companions in before the incompetent Wizard could protest.

I'll give credit where it's due, as stupid as he was to let that filthy dog go near him and reveal his true identity as very much human and powerless, Oscar did manage to dabble his way through the meeting. Admittedly he had put off finding a way to send the girl home for a few days but I was sure we'd manage to sort something out. But still he was looking rather depressed afterwards and barely managed to crack a smile despite the great achievement we had gained today.

Finally I broke the silence, "Well, I don't know why you're so despondiary, I thought it went quite well! They seem thrilled to shreds with their brains and their hearts, and this and that..."

And thinking about it we'd done even more than that! The Witch might have been seeking to destroy Oz but in doing so she'd made me create universal fear of her. Because of her Oz was more united than I could ever remember it. Because of her Oz's military was the largest and the most loyal in one centuries. Maybe, just maybe, we didn't need all the magic after all. Now we had got rid of the threat of the Witch were we not strong enough to invade our neighbours already? Could I finally have got the means to make Oz great again?

Glinda strode into the room.

"Oh, Miss Glinda! I thought you'd be out festivating." I said surprised, she had left early this morning and I hadn't seen her since the Witch's death. I had expected her to be revelling in the extra attention the death had caused her.

She brushed passed me, ignoring me completely, and went straight to Oscar holding out a little green bottle that looked vaguely recognisable, "This was Elphaba's." She stated, the defiant look in her eyes stronger than I had ever seen it.

Oscar looked at the bottle, puzzled "What's that you say?"

"It was a keepsake." Glinda prompted, "It was her mother's. She told me so herself. I've only seen a little, green bottle like this one other time. It was right here, in this very room. You offered me a drink from it."

And then I remembered, that mind control potion I had made, the one Oscar had grown particularly fond of. The governor's wife had one too. Had Oscar given one to her? What would have prompted him to do that? Why would he have been sharing his precious 'green elixir' with the Witch's mother all those years ago… just over 23 years ago as a matter of fact… Then it all clicked into place, the bottle, governor's wife's possession of it, Oscar's guilt after returning from Munchkinland although the mission had been most successful…

Oscar also seemed to be coming to a similar conclusion, from his incomprehensible murmurs all I could hear was, "Oh my Lord… always longed to be… a father…"

And then the final penny dropped. That girl, who had never seen herself as anything but an annoyance, was the one thing I had desired to be more than anything else. "So that was it. That's why she had such powers! She was a child of both worlds!"

Oscar of course, at the most desperate of moments, had decided that now would be the ideal time to sob hysterically. Apparently the fact that he was related by blood to the girl whose death he'd indirectly caused rendered him useless. Why, even after her death, did this Wicked Witch have to put a spanner in all my workings?

Glinda however, spared him no moment to wallow in his self-pity, immediately she turned to him speaking in a voice quite unlike the one I was used to, "I want you to leave Oz. I'll make the pronouncement myself: that the strains of wizardship have been too much for you and you are taking an indefinite leave of absence! Did you hear what I said?"

Oscar nodded meekly, apparently not caring that the girl was shattering our Oz as she spoke, "Yes, your Goodness."

"You'd better go get your balloon ready." She continued with the authority I was quite sure she was not supposed to have. She watched him rush out of the room, in seconds destroying, with far more success than her late friend, everything I had spent a lifetime working on.

But her betrayal was not over yet, shooting me a look of utter loathing, so different from one of the superficial girl who cared about nothing but herself that I had once seen, she called loudly towards the door, "Guards!"

Oz's future in ruins, my power vanquished quicker than I had thought possible I was reduced to begging, "Glinda, dear, I know we've had our miniscule differentiations in the past..."

The look of loathing returned to her face and I wondered how I could have made such a misjudgement about this blonde girl, "Guards!" she shouted once again, louder, then she turned to me – her voice sickeningly sweet – and smiled viciously, "Madame, have you ever considered how you'd fare in captivity?"

"What?" No. No! This could not be happening! After everything I'd done. Everything I'd sacrificed. Everything I'd lost. It couldn't end like this.

But it could, and Glinda the Good seemed to be enjoying the fact it was, "Articulated. Captivity... prison! Personally, I don't think you'll hold up very well. My professional opinion is that you do not have what it takes. I hope you prove me wrong. I doubt you will. Take her away!"

And with that the guards, most of whom I'd hired, dragged me most unceremoniously away from the throne room that would have never come into being without me. The guards' grips, almost too firm, made me wonder just how bitter they were about the times I'd shouted and punished them. I barely had time to take one last glance at the splendour which had taken a lifetime to earn before I was dragged deep into the depths of Southstairs into the magic-proof cell I had made myself.


	35. Epilogue: No One Mourns the Horrible

_The summer of 1248 bloomed lukewarm and mildly rainy – as most summers had before the days of the Great Drought – so a sunny day, free from chores, was happily welcomed by the five children of the farmhouse._

_It was a day that seemed so normal for us but now, looking back on it, I see it as a rare occurrence. Ketzal did not yet spend all her free time with Gieffe, Starina – for reasons I can only guess at – had not abandoned us for her friends and Ianu had been left alone for long enough by Papa to insist in tagging along with us._

_We were gathered around the hen house – with Rina and me standing on top of it. Rina was wearing a daisy chain as a substitute for a pure gold crown, which had not been available at the time, and I was holding a dishcloth – because that's what Rina insisted princess' handmaidens had._

_Notta came galloping in, or rather arrived at the hen house at a rather slow pace, because Ketzal was her 'horse' and she swore that Notta was getting far too heavy to carry. Notta, unimpaired by Ket's lack of mobility, jumped off – father's hat flapping over her eyes._

" _Don't worry beautiful handmaiden and princess! I am a handsome prince I will save you!" She ran towards us, only to be stopped by a deafening roar._

" _Oh no! It's Ianu dragon!" Ketzal shrieked as Notta giggled, "What are you going to do brave prince?"_

" _I will kill him!" Notta told her, and proceeded to hit her brother lightly with the stick she had picked up to use as a sword. Ianu continued roaring, obviously enjoying his part, we had wanted him to be the prince because he was a boy and Ket said he was the lightest but he had insisted on being the dragon and was clearly intent on proving his worthiness for the part._

" _You're supposed to die," Notta stage whispered._

_Ianu roared once again before curling into a ball, smiling up at us and announcing, "I'm dead now."_

_Notta clambered up on top of the hen house, "Now I will save you."_

" _But how will I get down?" asked Rina._

_Notta looked down at the ground less than a metre below us, "We jump."_

" _But I can't," insisted Rina, "it will hurt my dainty little feet."_

_Notta shrugged, "OK Del, do you want to jump?"_

_I nodded but Rina pulled me back, "It will hurt her feet too."_

_Notta and I looked at each other out of ideas._

" _Oh no, Ianu dragon is trying to catch you!" shouted Ket, Ianu on her shoulders._

" _But he's dead," I said._

" _He's a magic dragon," replied Ket._

" _Quick let's climb down!" said Rina, "I have a rope ladder!" Notta and Rina jumped down. I moved to jump too._

" _No you can't!" Rina told me, "the rope ladder's broken."_

" _That was a rubbish rope ladder," commented Notta._

_Rina rolled her eyes, "It's a magic rope ladder. You'll have to stay in there forever lowly handmaiden."_

_I looked around, "So what do I do?"_

" _You should be happy your mistress is safe," insisted Rina._

" _Now I'm sure Del can…" Ket started._

" _Quick Del jump!" shouted Notta. I jumped._

" _Wow, you are so brave handmaiden," Notta told me, "I will marry you!" and she hugged me, grabbed my hand and we ran away from the tower together giggling, despite the princess' shrieks of "It's not fair! You have to marry me!"_

* * *

_Year 1296 – during the rule of Glinda the Good_

_And Goodness knows the Wicked's lives are lonely,  
Goodness knows the Wicked die alone,_

There is no one to save me now, as I lie here rotting in my own filth, everything I have ever achieved has been destroyed – just like my life. I am alone – just as I have been for years.

Now, when I can probably count the days I have left on my fingers, I look back. I wonder where I went wrong. I wonder whether I ever went right to start with.

I see her sometimes – Delva – the sweet, innocent, kind, naïve girl who just wanted to be loved. She would be disgusted with me. She would have never done what I have done. But Delva was weak; she was fragile, too fragile as it turned out. She never really was the same after Notta died, fragments of her remained in me for a time after that, but reality washed even those away eventually.

Notta. Do I miss her? Do I even have enough of a soul left for that to be possible? There is no doubt that I did. But Notta, for all her endless kindness – all her natural loveliness, without a doubt brought out the worst in me. Notta left me when I needed her the most. Notta is gone, just like Delva.

So Oz has changed hands again. I hope for my country's sake that Glinda the Good knows what she is doing. That she will be able to deal with invasions from Fliaan, that she will be able to keep Ozian faith when there are droughts, that she will be able to account for the Ozians' fickle tastes. I wonder if she'll come running back to her old headmistress' cell when she realises ruling is not as easy as it looks. Or maybe, just maybe, she'll find a way to keep them happy and one day will find herself in a cell just like me, changed beyond recognition, wondering what happened, where she went wrong.

History is written by the victors. I am not one. Any good I did for Oz will be forgotten. All my mistakes will be villainised. My secrets will die with me (I wonder if Glinda knows that one of the few people who knows the Ozma's location lies withering in this cell – I wonder if it even matters – if life has taught me one thing it's people with power do not like giving it up). Everyone will know what I did to the Animals, everyone will know of the Witches I murdered, but no one will know of my struggles, my pain, my losses. My story will never be told.

Madame Morrible will be remembered. Delva has already been forgotten.

* * *

**Warrant of Execution**

**Completed By:** _Glinda the Good_

 **Subject:  
** **Surname:** _Morrible_

 **First name:** _Unknown – possibly Madame_

 **Gender:** _Female_

 **Date of Birth:** _I don't know! A long time ago._

 **Crimes:** _Unspeakablifyed treatment of the Animals, the murder of Miss Nessarose Thropp and actions that lead to the deaths of Prince Fiyero Tiggular and Miss Elphaba Thropp, attempted blackmail of Glinda the Good and possibly the Wizard of Oz himself, trying to single handily destroy Oz, having no heart, caring about no one, never doing a good thing in her life, being unable to use makeup, looking like a fish and lots of other stuff._

 **Punishment:** _To be burnt at the stake._

 **Date of Execution:** _26_ _th_ _September 1296_

 **Additional Comments:** _Good Riddance._


End file.
